The Mona Lisa (1983)
‘The Mona Lisa” (1983) Written and Performed by John Kelly
Filmed and Edited by Antony Chase
Music by Monteverdi, Mozart, Gershwin, Ponchielli.
With Kuka, the South African Flying Pig Dog.
John Kelly’s performance work ‘The Mona Lisa’ was first performed at the Pyramid Club in 1983, in which he appeared as the Mona Lisa while simultaneously bringing to life and debunking the notion of a masterpiece. The soundtrack is a verbal narration in which Kelly speaks the imperious voice of the painter Leonardo da Vinci, and eventually the snarling nasal sounds of his subject, the rebellious Mona Lisa.
“THE MONA LISA” film is in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art
photo by Marcus Leatherdale
