Mike Bidlo

PROVENANCE: Courtesy of the Artist

In the present work, Mike Bidlo has looked to the Italian conceptual artist Piero Manzoni
(1933-1963) and his 1962 print portfolio, 8 Tavole di accertamento (8 Tables of
assessment), as a source of inspiration.   Bidlo has taken the concept of appropriation
and has added a twist, for what clearly appears to be Manzoni’s right thumbprint, is in
actuality Mike Bidlo’s own thumbprint.

A Neo-Dada practitioner known for his appropriation of paintings, sculptures, and performances
by 20th-century masters such as Picasso, Warhol, Duchamp, and Pollock, Mike Bidlo approaches iconic modernist works as readymades. Bidlo has staged renowned performances re-enacting Warhol’s Factory and Pollock’s action paintings .For Matisse/Picasso: A Cross Examination (2003), Bidlo produced large-scale murals of Picasso’s and Matisse’s heads on the walls of MOMA’s PS1, appropriated from the two artists’ self-portraits. A central member of the appropriationist movement in 1980s New York, Bidlo associated with Philip Taaffe and Sherrie Levine. “Tight- assed art historical taboos,” he has said, “I’m interested in exploring and penetrating those taboos.”