Of the Duality of Art, 2020

What is visible is a three-dimensional object. Since the object only exists in a digital version and not physically, nothing can be said about its dimensions.

The Object Carrier

The object carrier is a very thin board, presumably covered with red velvet, made from an unknown material. Ten hollow prisms with triangular bases are mounted on it, centered both vertically and horizontally, and arranged vertically directly next to each other. The triangular bases are equilateral, with the apex of the right angle pointing towards the viewer. This type of painting is called a "Riefelbild."

The Left Side of the Prism

When viewed from the front, fragments of the painting Ginevra de' Benci by Leonardo da Vinci (1452) are depicted on the left surfaces of the prisms. Nico Franz altered the original image and drew an equilateral triangle, surrounded by a golden halo, around the right eye of Ginevra. This is part of the final image in his well-known analysis of the geometric relationships in the painting. It is the starting point for his thesis that the painting could not have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci but must have been created by an author in the late 18th century.

The Right Side of the Prism

On the right side, the fragments show the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States on a black background. The green coloring suggests that it was taken from the reverse side of the U.S. one-dollar bill, where it is depicted in this form. Both images are copies of the originals.

Suspension of the Object

The object carrier itself is movable and can be rotated 90 degrees to the left and right along the centrally positioned y-axis. When rotated at a 30-degree angle, the fragmentation is resolved due to the changed perspective. The image then reveals either the portrait of Ginevra de' Benci or the Great Seal of the United States.

The Stuttgart-based Copist Nico Franz draws upon an idea that traces back to a work from the circle of Guido Reni (17th century). He depicted a riefelbild with portraits of Jesus and Mary. Nico Franz saw the work in 2019 at an Op-Art exhibition in the Stuttgart Art Museum. He was fascinated.

Nico Franz on the occasion of the work

The duality of art is one of the defining themes in Nico Franz's artistic work: "For too long, I searched for a way to bring together opposing copies so that they appear as one and yet maintain their contrasting expressive power. I was a fool not to think of the third space. In the second, I couldn't succeed. Reni's work, in this regard, was a deep insight for me." Nico Franz copied Reni's work into the digital space and made some changes. The riefelbild is no longer firmly mounted on a wall, so that the viewer "no longer has to actively circumvent it." Furthermore, Nico Franz has not commented on this copist masterpiece since.

The worse copy?

His consistently proposed credo of dynamicizing art surprisingly represents a step backward in relation to Reni's work. The viewer is forced into a passive role by Nico Franz, the mystery is directly resolved, and the viewer doesn't even have to struggle to comprehend the work by circumventing it. The passive viewer, thus degraded, has no chance to repeat what has been seen or to individualize the viewing angle. An interpretation of the process of actively engaging with the work by the viewer, as it is possible with Reni, could not, therefore, have been the focus in Nico Franz's work.

The temporal connection to the image analysis of Ginevra de' Benci

The choice of paintings for the surfaces of the prisms, which deviates from Reni's selection, initially appears arbitrary, after all, they are two representations that differ in style and subject matter. However, an interpretation of this selection would be too bold and presumably too convoluted. What can be certainly stated is the connection to the geometric analysis of the portrait of Ginevra de' Benci, which Nico Franz conducted around the same time. The similarity of the triangular shapes in the prisms, the pyramid in the Great Seal of the USA, and the image composition of Ginevra de' Benci is obvious.

The title of the work

The duality that the title of the work, "Of the Duality of Art," refers to was never further explained by Nico Franz, leaving this question unresolved. It is often assumed that Nico Franz meant the contradiction between the demands of capital and the workings of art. An earlier version, "Greed and Avarice," which was destroyed in the meantime, shows the exact same composition. Only the images on the prisms and the color of the frame were different.

This fuels the suspicion that Nico Franz was not concerned with the selection of images when titling this work and that the title likely refers to the three-dimensional basic structure of the work itself. Ultimately, this work, like every other copist work, is to be understood as a translation into the digital world following the copist canon, thus modernizing traditional forms of representation.