Artwork of the month November

Mai-Thu Perret, Donna Come Me, 2008

Mai-Thu Perret

*1978 in Genf


 Donna Come Me, 2008


Mannequin, periwig, uniform, pom poms, acrylic paint on carpet
Carpet 365.8x198.1cm, Mannequin 139 x 50 x 60

A life-size mannequin is sitting on a white painted pedestal, wearing a periwig with long hair and a blue-violet jumpsuit. Her feet rest on a large also blue-violet carpet that has been painted with fluorescent acrylic paint. Some of the paint has left over on the jumpsuit. It seems that the paint on the jumpsuit derives from painting the carpet. But then, questions like: "Who has worn the jumpsuit?" and: "Whom does the mannequin repre- sent?" will follow inevitably. Answering this questions shows, how complex and extensive Mai-Thu Perret ́s work is.

Donna come me originated in 2008 during the artist's first solo-show in New York. Among

other works she showed there a video whose title An Evening of the Book derives from a Russian avant-garde theatre piece, for which Varvara Stepanowa has made the décor in 1924. In the video Perret refers on Stepanova ́s setting and costumes but adds an extra dimension: There is the Swedish artist Fia Backström, sitting on a chair and tailoring costumes. In the video Backström is slipping in the role of the costume designer Stepanova, and: she is wearing exactly the jumpsuit, which the mannequin in Donna come me is wearing. Mai-Thu Perret herself has worn that jumpsuit, when she painted the carpet with a motif recalling a Rorschach inkblot.

The different and complex references on history of art, all included in this installation, are characteristic for Mai-Thu Perret ́s oeuvre. They are not only to be seen in the multiple use of the jumpsuit. Also the motif of the Rorschach inkblot has continually been a topic in the fine arts. Donna come me has to be read as a self-portrait, in which the artist herself puts her into a sequence of female artists and shows the whole range of her artistic œuvre.

<b>Mai-Thu Perret, Donna Come Me, 2008</b>
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein highlights a work from the permanent collection each month throughout the year. Works from the collection of the Hilti Art Foundation are also included in this series on a regular basis.