You might not think of Daffy Duck when you think about love, but Andy Holden turned to this cartoon character as inspiration when tackling the question “What is Love?” Love has often been caricatured within art and pop culture, and as an animator, Holden has used images which remind him of cartoons to explore this unifying, terrifying, and tearful emotion. See the works that Holden chose when he dived heart first into the Google Arts & Culture archive (he even got one of the works tattooed on himself after a breakup)...
Figure:Daffy Duck (1968) by R. Dakin & CompanyThe Strong National Museum of Play
What is love? Artist Andy Holden answers through images selected from the Google Arts & Culture archive.
Caricatured love
“In the cartoon, Daffy is arguing with the animator as the scenery constantly changes faster than he can react too… I thought this would work well with the idea of my cartoon character looking for the answer for what is love and being presented with metaphors made concrete and ‘shown to him’ in a cartoon style.”
The disturbing muses (1955/1960) by Giorgio de ChiricoBiennale Internazionale dell'Antiquariato di Firenze
The disturbing muse
“I always loved De Chirico, I think because he always reminded me of cartoons; black lines often give his objects a solid and thing-like feel, like foregrounded objects on an animators acetate.”
Melancholy Woman (1902) by Pablo PicassoDetroit Institute of Arts
Tears of love
“I have chosen two Picasso's, two very different ways to depict emotion by the same person. One an inward state and one in the moment of wild, externalized tears.”
La Femme Qui Pleure (The Weeping Woman) (1937) by Pablo PicassoContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait
The master of emotion
“Picasso is the master of finding unconventional formal devices for communicating very nuanced emotional states, and he shows us that realism might not be the only way to communicate intense emotion.”
Composition of Circles and Overlapping Angles (1930) by Sophie Taeuber-ArpMoMA The Museum of Modern Art
Marital love
“Sophie Taeuber-Arp was married to Jean (Hans Arp) and between them they made vast contributions to Surrealism... I've been interested in the idea of the muse, but with the Arps, it is a collaboration.”
Step (1979) by Philip GustonThe Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The terror of love
“There is a great vast vat of terrifying love poured into every Guston painting. This is 'Step', which seems about right. I recently got a Guston tattoo after a break up. Odd thing to do.”
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