Photo: Freddy Fabris
At first glance, the world of car mechanics and Renaissance paintings have absolutely nothing in common. However, if you think about it, both involve getting your hands dirty and paying attention to the smallest of details.
Freddy Fabris has been shooting people for the last 20 years. All this time, he's been looking for a way to pay homage to the great Renaissance masters. Back in the day, they didn't have cameras with tens of megapixels but were still able to recreate complex images.
Just copying their work would not show respect, so Fabris needed an original conceptual twist, one which he found in the world of car mechanics. Everybody knows that taking grown men out of their natural environment makes everything funny - a bald man in a ballet tutu, a fat guy playing with makeup, etc.
However, the men in this gallery are not models or actors; they are real handymen from an old Midwest car shop. Arriving there totally by chance, Fabris slowly but surely convinced them to participate in this weird and wonderful project.
The centerpiece of the gallery is a recreation of The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. Made famous by conspiracy theorists yet appreciated for its composition, this painting can be recognized even by the people who don't know what the Renaissance stands for.
Next up, we have The Creation of Adam, one of the greatest frescos made by Michelangelo. And no, we're not talking about the Ninja Turtles!
While seeing one mechanic hand a spanner to another as if giving him the spark of life is funny, my favorite piece is The Anatomy Lesson by Rembrandt. It could be because I'm a sucker for Dutch school, but I just love the contrast between the "dark darks" and the "light lights" of the image. Contrast just pulls your attention and makes you wonder what the heck was so interesting about that old Boxer engine.
The rest of the series is made up of Rembrandt-inspired portraits that you should definitely check out in the photo gallery below.
Just copying their work would not show respect, so Fabris needed an original conceptual twist, one which he found in the world of car mechanics. Everybody knows that taking grown men out of their natural environment makes everything funny - a bald man in a ballet tutu, a fat guy playing with makeup, etc.
However, the men in this gallery are not models or actors; they are real handymen from an old Midwest car shop. Arriving there totally by chance, Fabris slowly but surely convinced them to participate in this weird and wonderful project.
The centerpiece of the gallery is a recreation of The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. Made famous by conspiracy theorists yet appreciated for its composition, this painting can be recognized even by the people who don't know what the Renaissance stands for.
Next up, we have The Creation of Adam, one of the greatest frescos made by Michelangelo. And no, we're not talking about the Ninja Turtles!
While seeing one mechanic hand a spanner to another as if giving him the spark of life is funny, my favorite piece is The Anatomy Lesson by Rembrandt. It could be because I'm a sucker for Dutch school, but I just love the contrast between the "dark darks" and the "light lights" of the image. Contrast just pulls your attention and makes you wonder what the heck was so interesting about that old Boxer engine.
The rest of the series is made up of Rembrandt-inspired portraits that you should definitely check out in the photo gallery below.
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