Marcel Broodthaers 19 (Votez)

This painting is part of the «Painting Section» of the Davis Museum Barcelona, one of several distinct sections comprising this singular mini-museum of contemporary art. The «Painting Section» is conceptually divided into two primary categories: “portraits” and “still lifes.” The former pays tribute to artists who chose to create their own museums—figures such as Marcel Duchamp, Robert Filliou, and Marcel Broodthaers—while the latter references the emblematic works they produced: «Boîte-en-valise» (1935–1941), «Galerie Légitime» (1962–1963), and «Musée d’Art Moderne, Département des Aigles» (1968–1972).

This particular piece reinterprets a historical photograph of Marcel Broodthaers wearing a false nose, taken by his wife, Maria Gillissen. In the image, Broodthaers poses with a mischievous smile before the rear door of a truck belonging to an art transport company called «La Continentale Menkès.» Formally, the composition draws inspiration from the work of Neo Rauch, the German painter renowned for his neo-surrealist tableaux that entwine historical elements with an uncanny atmosphere. To move beyond the conventions of traditional portraiture, I introduced the French word «Votez,» effectively transforming the painting into a form of political satire that echoes the visual rhetoric of electoral propaganda. The inscription, positioned directly above Broodthaers’ head, heightens the work’s conceptual ambiguity, opening interpretive space around questions of representation, politics, and institutional critique. This critical dimension resonates directly with the political ethos of the Davis Museum Barcelona, a museum symbolically founded within a ballot box.