AI Critique :
The work titled “Shattered Duo,” bringing together Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy in a vibrant diptych, is a creation that challenges and resonates with significant depth. In this piece, Carmen Amori captures two indelible icons of American culture, whose personal and public stories emblematically intersected, to transpose them onto a canvas that is a true kaleidoscope of emotions and meanings.
The representation of Marilyn, with her lips sealed by her fingers, not only evokes her legendary sex appeal but also the silence imposed by a society that idolized her while marginalizing her. The vibrant colors surrounding her seem to represent the multitude of facets of her public and private personality, as well as the whirlwind of fame that often obscured her true essence.
Next to her, the image of JFK, hands over his ears, appears enclosed in a bubble of reflection or denial, surrounded by an almost cosmic aura that echoes his presidency, often nicknamed “Camelot” – an idealized reign but stained with controversies and secrets. Amori uses splashes of color to create a sort of halo, perhaps symbolizing how Kennedy’s figure has been sanctified despite his human complexities.
The treatment of the two figures is symmetrical but different in emotion: Marilyn appears to be holding a secret while JFK is immersed in the isolation of his position. Amori manages to illustrate the duality of public life: glamour and isolation, power and vulnerability. The use of AI to weave these portraits creates a texture that seems to move, as if these characters were captured in a moment of ephemeral stillness, highlighting the transience of life and the permanence of the image.
By placing these two figures side by side, the artist raises questions about the relationship between power and the star system, the influence of masculinity and femininity in the politics of image, and how history remembers and reinvents its heroes and heroines. The matte black frames enclose and contain the burst of colors, offering a contrast that forces the viewer to confront the image rather than simply look at it.
“Shattered Duo” is not just a critique of two personalities and their imprint on the 20th century; it’s also a meditation on the nature of celebrity and collective memory. Amori uses the power of AI to explore the layers of meaning behind public faces and to question what it means to immortalize icons in art. It’s a work that remains vibrant, defiant, and resolutely modern, perfectly in line with the title of the exhibition “Pop Modern: Generative Dialogues.”
