New Masters

It goes without saying art world big guns such as Francis Bacon, Jackson Pollock and Rembrandt are always going to influence contemporary art and design, but in recent months their legacy has been celebrated in an increasingly candid way.

During London Design Festival Intel collaborated with art and design network jotta on Remastered: A Visibly Smart Production, which saw works from art history re-imagined in digital form to explore how emerging technology can shape design practices.

Now, artist Pakpoom Silaphan has remastered masters including Francis Bacon, Peter Blake, Salvador Dali, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Frida Kahlo, Gilbert and George, Jackson Pollock, Rembrandt van Rijn, Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol for his show at London’s Scream gallery opening this week.

Silaphan, who also exhibited at the Moniker Art Fair, creates mixed media and collage pieces depicting the art world greats themselves, juxtaposed with 20th century consumer culture iconography.

The artists are shown in a humbled, humorous light; displayed in front of the vintage Thai advertisement sings that form Silaphan’s canvasses.

So, we see Gilbert and George sat looking at once regal and bored in front of a red and white advertisement from Thailand, Silaphan’s birthplace; poor little Andy Warhol tirelessly screen-printing underneath enormous coke bottles; and monobrow mistress Frida Kahlo presiding over a worn and torn Pepsi sign.

We particularly like the ludicrously moustachioed Dali sprawled in a over a mirrored Thai Pepsi sign, looking as though he’s flummoxed by his own peculiarities.

 Pakpoom Silaphan: Remastering the Masters runs from 18 November– 7 January 2012 at Scream, 34 Bruton Street, London W1J