Klimt Mouse 2022

Sergey Piskunov made this "Klimt Mouse" painting, and it’s a real head-scratcher in the best way, mashing up high and low art. What grabs me is how he takes the shimmering, decorative world of Klimt and slaps it onto, of all things, a Mickey Mouse figure. The original paintings are so flat, all gold leaf and pattern. Piskunov somehow coaxes this sense of depth and volume out of it, which is so strange. Look at how the light hits those ears, making it feel almost inflatable. It's like he's asking, “What happens when you take something iconic and flatten it, then rebuild it in another form?” The dark background feels like it's trying to turn the mouse into gold itself. It makes me think of Elizabeth Murray, who took cartoon shapes and blew them up into these wild, lumpy canvases. Art’s always playing this game of telephone, right?