Artists tap into other artists. This can take subtle, even subliminal form or it can be glaring, obvious. The recent controversy surrounding Lady Gaga and Colette exemplifies the more overt variety. I found the root images for the 50 variations in this gallery in an album on Colette’s Facebook page. The album, entitled Stolen Paintings, contained scans of 5 paintings evidentially stolen from Colette, physically stolen. I created 10 variations for each of Colette’s 5 images. I feel comfortable posting the variations online because I am doing so in an honest fashion. These are digital variations, not rip-offs of Colette’s work. I realize no income can be generated from the variations without first striking a fair arrangement with Colette, which is exactly as it should be.
Peter Schmideg