Collection Overview Celebrated contemporary artist Simon Claridge in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products has created a series of portraits based on the studio’s iconic film star, Marilyn Monroe. The Diamond Dust Collection by Simon Claridge features six silkscreens that represent the many facets of Marilyn Monroe’s film career with Twentieth Century Fox. Created by Claridge, these images have never before been translated into fine art and stem from original photography stills and film outtakes from Marilyn’s most well-known titles ‘Gentleman Prefer Blondes’ and ‘How to Marry a Millionaire’. The collection represents Marilyn in symbolic black and white, enveloped in what has now become Claridge’s trademark ‘diamond dust’. As well as featuring some familiar stills photography of Marilyn in ‘Gentleman Prefer Blondes’ and ‘How to Marry a Millionaire’ , there are also surprises with rarely seen - and certainly never depicted in fine art - poses and scenes.
In The Diamond Dust Collection by Simon Claridge , Simon Claridge manages to stay true to the universal aesthetic of Marilyn whilst portraying her in his own inimitable fashion, through the eyes of a true admirer. Diamond Dust Perhaps most famously used by Andy Warhol, Simon Claridge has since made diamond dust an elemental component of his artistic oeuvre, using it to add the glamour that his subjects command. The luminous effect is both beautiful and alluring, and heightens an already overwhelming sensory experience. Used in The Diamond Dust Collection by Simon Claridge , Claridge adds to the feeling of unmistakable Hollywood opulence, and compliments the radiance for which Monroe was famous in her Fox film career. It serves to bring her from two dimensions into three, conveying her aura and alluding to her being very much in the spotlight during her career on the big screen.
in the same way. The sheen created by the diamond dust dictates that it will reflect differently according to the light sources around it. View it in bright sunlight, in artificial light, through the beams of light cast by a setting sun, and the same piece will appear transformed. Arguably, this is fitting and appropriate to Monroe. She had so many guises, was open yet guarded, was known to so many but understood by so few…in short, she was many different things to many different people. Herein lies the beauty of The Diamond Dust Collection by Simon Claridge , Simon Claridge has surrendered control of the artistic finish and allowed Marilyn to shine.
Diamond dust elevates this body of work to an intriguing truth; no two people will view the same piece
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