'Elegant Universe' by Handiedan, 2023
Beautiful Limited Edition print collab. with artist Ramon Maiden.
20 x 16 Inches
50.8 x 40.6 Centimeters
Archival pigment print on 290gsm Moab Entrada fine art paper with Augmented Reality.
Limited Edition of 100 (#41/100)
Hand-signed by both artists in silver bottom right.
Numbered and artist embossed bottom left.
Includes original 1xRUN COA signed by both artists.
*Note: This print includes Augmented Reality (AR) functionality - download the Artivive app on your device to view 'Elegant Universe's' AR animation!
ARTIST BIO (Handiedan)
Handiedan's collage work feeds on the tainted history of pin-up girl posters, using torn, aged surfaces to subvert sexiness. At first glance, the images have a nostalgic feeling, fueled by their ornate details and seemingly straightforward compositions, but a closer look quickly reveals their brutality.
Though her current work tends toward multi-faceted, multi-hued theatricality, it also embraces an element of noir-inspired starkness. For the first time, Handiedan has experimented with black and white imagery, and to haunting effect.
Ultimately, Handiedan presents a new history by repurposing an old one. Posters, icons, typography, constructs, and decorations of earlier eras are toggled together in a way that scratches away at the past's objectification while celebrating its glamour. - Phone Booth Gallery
Intricate and meticulously crafted, Handiedan's collages represent the gradual accumulation of layers—not only of materials like wood, metal and paper, but cultural references as well. Over a backdrop of baroque designs culled from international currencies and antique sheet music, the artist fuses classic pin-up girl body parts to create her own version of beauty. Sometimes these beauties might wield an extra arm or two, and everything that lies exposed beyond their garters and brassieres is heavily inked with hand-drawn tattoos.
ARTIST BIO (Ramon Maiden)
Ramon Maiden is a Spanish-born artist, whose works pay tribute to forgotten members of society - criminals, women, people of the underworld. He re-appropriates vintage illustrations from postcards, calendars, and various prints to transform them into fully tattooed characters and subjects with a mere ball-point pen. By painting over these old images, the artist offers a glimpse into the power of the invisible, using everything from Vargas pin-ups to religious prints depicting Saints and other holy characters to create his detailed pieces dawning full body tattoos.
Maiden was born in 1972 and raised in Roquetas - the Bronx of Barcelona - a working class neighborhood located on the edge of the city's limits. Throughout the 80's and 90's it was known for its high levels of crime and nonconformity. Being an entirely self-taught artist, Ramon never felt bound anywhere and he traveled extensively – he lived in several countries and he considers New York as his second city. As well as his place of residence, his training, ideas, sources of inspirations are all dynamic and changing - and so are the techniques and methods he employs.