It’s all about the fingers, as Italian artist Dito Von Tease demonstrates in the following series of fingerprint portraits.
As my fellow Walyou writer Ehud pointed out in the other post featuring works of this artist, Dito Von Tease is most likely an alias rather than a real name. His name is a wordplay between the stage name of an American burlesque dancer (Dita von Teese) and the Italian word for finger (dito). More than that, his fingerprint portrait collection is named Ditology, taking the finger reference even further.
I admit, I would have been more impressed if these portraits were really painted on fingers, rather than Photoshopped. Dito Von Tease picked out the portraits very wisely, but still, this is not the first time fingers and hands become a medium for art. In fact, these portraits reminded me of some ads for AT&T that featured hand paintings. Funnily enough, the artist who did the AT&T ads is Italian, too.
The above image depicts Steve Jobs, the late CEO of Apple. Not just that, it looks like a portrait of Steve Jobs in his better days, as towards the end he seemed to be feebler. The Apple fans who want to crucify me for my previous statement are free to leave a comment below.
The second portrait is of yet another famous spectacled person, but this time, a peaceful one: the Dalai Lama.
Frida Kahlo also makes an appearance in this artist’s portfolio. Given that Frida was best known for her self-portraits, making a fingerprint portrait of her seems the logical thing to do.
Next is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as you have never seen him before. Really! Mozart’s fingerprint portrait looks very much like the one made by Johann Nepomuk della Croce ca. 1780.
This and the next one are self portraits of Dito Von Tease. It is nice to see how the artist imagines himself.
Mr. T, who you can see below, probably made this list due to his recognizable haircut. His roles in Rocky III and The A-Team may have helped, as well.
Che Guevara is portrayed with a Cuban cigar in a corner of his mouth. This is for the revolutionary ones, so you can imagine him painted on the middle finger.
Alex, one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite films directed by one of my favorite directors (have I made my point, yet?), has also been reimagined by the Italian artist as a finger.
Ronald McDonald has been included too, probably for the sake of fast-food lovers. That, and the fact that he is probably one of the most iconic clowns in history.
If you liked this post, please check the other 9 creative fingerprint portraits and these AT&T ads featuring handpainting.
