I'm a healthcare worker, so I was never in full lockdown mode - I had to go to work every day more or less like I had been for years. It made a deep impression on me though, especially those first months, seeing the deserted streets, no families and visitors in the hospital where I work, schools closed, universities and research facilities closed down. It was (and is) rather eerie. I know my friends and family struggled with the "new normal" every day. There have been a few positive benefits though. Almost everyone I know has picked up new skills, practiced more music, improved their chess game, started gardens, home improvements, and all the things which go along with staying home.
I was blown away by so much of the creativity, humor, inventiveness, fun, whimsy, and *awesomeness* documented here. Many of the world's museums and collections provided remote access to their collections, and Getty was among the benefactors to do so. The challenge came soon after: recreate iconic artworks with items from which the participants had access. This volume is curated from the responses sent in by readers/instagrammers.
The images are arranged roughly thematically: home/interiors, still life, portraiture, animals, food, dramatic works, children. Each of the works is placed in proximity to the original (credited) work with artist's name, title, and date. Some of them are really eerily similar, some are (very) tongue-in-cheek, some hilarious, touching, melancholy, and beautiful in their own right.
I really found myself smiling and impressed by the creativity. It was a struggle not to race ahead and look at them all immediately. This would make a superlative coffee table book, library book, or gift for an art enthusiast still in lockdown. Beautifully, mostly respectfully rendered. Bring a sense of fun to the quarantine party.
Five stars. This is a timely, if ephemeral, volume.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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