Simon Fujiwara Study for an Icon (Red and Green Who?), 2024

This work is part of Simon Fujiwara’s larger project, featuring his original cartoon character Who the Bær as they explore different iconic artworks throughout art history. In this work, Who is immersed in a world inspired by Diego Velázquez’s portrait, Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress(1659).

The work is executed using a combination of pastel, charcoal, and acrylic on canvas. Unlike Velázquez’s distinct style of naturalism, the subject here is rendered using simplified, cartoon-like outlines and painterly brushstrokes. Who, a figure characterized by their arduous search for an identity, is transformed into Infanta Margaret Theresa, daughter of King Philip IV of Spain and Queen Mariana, wearing a voluminous dress corseted at the waist.