(above) 2023, VENERANDISSIMIS DIIS GLORIAM
(“Glory to the Most Venerable Gods,”) detail, illuminated manuscript 22-1/2″ x 22-1/2″, gouache, 22k gold leaf, ink on Arches paper Click HERE to view entire image

Ken Aptekar toys with masterpieces from the past by using the history of art as his playground. He time-travels old paintings into the present by his sly repainting joined to his witty, disarming and intimate texts. Here’s the idea: Paintings are nothing on their own, they start to mean something only when you talk back to them. Aptekar’s work for many years turned this conviction into paintings on wood panels over which he bolts glass sandblasted with text. Lately he’s been conversing with illuminated manuscripts and printed books.

Below: Ken Aptekar, Breaking News/Flash Info, Pen mightier than Sword, 2019, 80cm x 80cm, archival inkjet print on Epson Hot Press Bright, ed. 1/20, part of portfolio of 11 prints published by the artist and the Bibliotheque Bussy-Rabutin, Autun, France, after L’Encyclopedie, Diderot and D’Alembert

Entire Portfolio ON VIEW January 25-June 16, 2024, Hans Erni Museum, Lucerne, Switzerland  Click HERE for more info (in German)