A Study in Color #770.

KAGAN, ANSHIE.

New York, 2013

Oil on canvas. Signed.

Large scale quadruple depiction of the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-94). The artist, Anshie Kagan (born Boston, 1984) is strongly influenced by the Pop Art Movement and specifically Andy Warhol’s iconic images of American celebrities. Kagan’s ironic and often black artwork incorporates current cultural, technological and social themes, such a his “Modern Day Commandments” - two columns of five QR codes representing the Biblical Decalogue. Another example of his clever plays on cultural references are his portraits featuring ultra-Orthodox rabbinic leaders of the 20th and 21st centuries, depicted on bright or psychedelic patterned backgrounds - the present canvas being a particularly fine example.