This print is a homage to Marcel Duchamp, one of the most fascinating and original artists of the 20th Century.
The 'Bottle Rack' (also called Bottle Dryer or Hedgehog) is a proto-Dada artwork created in 1914 Paris. He described this work as a 'readymade'. The leading Surrealist, Andre Breton defined the 'readymade' as -"an ordinary object elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist" The readymades of Duchamp are manufactured objects selected and modified, as an antidote to what he called "retinal art" - art that was only visual. By submitting them as art to art juries, the public, and his patrons, Duchamp challenged contemporary notions of what was, and what is not, art.
Duchamp's work does not have the serious tone of European Dada works, which criticized the violence of World War 1. He focused instead on a nonsensical nature, chosen purely on the basis of a "visual indifference". He said "it was always the idea that came first, not the visual example.." The works reflect his sense of irony, humour and ambiguity which I find appealing. His conceptual ideas influence many artists working today.
Duchamp made a total of 13 readymades over a period of 30 years Most of his early readymades were lost or discarded, but years later he commissioned reproductions of many of them.
