Do you know who they are?

[Deleted]

At the Wallonie-Bruxelles theatre center for the Avignon 'Off,' there were two giant paintings exposed. Every single face on the paintings was famous for something, but you have to be really good in history and current affairs to recognize everybody. There was a big decoding list identifying everybody, but no, I did not copy it down!

The first painting was for a boxing match in hell.

The other painting represented the struggle for freedom.

In any case, both paintings kept dozens of people busy trying to figure out who everybody was while they were waiting for entrance to the play to be announced.

[bixaorellana]

Whoa ~~ it's like the Sgt. Pepper's album cover on steroids!

I think it's somewhat divided into sections. For instance, here are the murderers:

On the left are Manson, Bin Laden, and Stalin. An amusing touch is Jerry Lee Lewis, aka "The Killer" further back. The close-ups of that section are downright scary.

Here are entertainment figures or popular "icons". Princess Diana is there along with Mickey Mouse, Andy Warhol (next to MM), Paris Hilton, Peter Falk, Harrison Ford, Elvis, Sean Connery as 007, Gene Hackman as Popeye in the French Connection, Tom Cruise, Madonna, John Lennon, Beethoven, Che Guevara, Albert Einstein, whew -- many more. (this is fun!)

[Deleted]

Marshal Pétain, José Bové, Hissène Habré, Radovan Karadzic, Benito Mussolini, Ariel Sharon, Deng Xiaoping...

[bixaorellana]

That couple facing the viewer -- aren't they that English pair responsible for the Yorkshire murders? Al Capone is to one side of her, with the cigar.

That's Lee Harvey Oswald in the row right in front of them. Son of Sam is peering through the ropes at the lower left. Is that OJ behind him?

In the 8th picture down, Spike Lee is holding the "Freedom" sign, with Ed Sullivan next to him. Who is holding the "we want more images" sign? Must be Kerouac!

[nic]

Jul 19, 2009 15:58:53 GMT kerouac2 said:

I believe the dudes standing next to Spike are Starsky & Hutch. Behind them is Salma Hayek from Wild, Wild West, and who was knocked-up by some French multi-billionaire (whatever that group that owns Louis Vuitton is called). Ahnold is behind her holding the "Freheit fur die Builder" sign. Heading to the left of that image: Batman, Mel Gibson from Mad Max, and Tom Cruise. Above him are Katie Holmes, Al Pacino in Scarface, JFK, the blonde in the shades is either Kate Hudson or Goldie Hawn; can’t tell which. Phillip Michael Thomas appears to be peaking beneath Tom’s sign next to Katie. Jack Black is just above Marshal Petain’s hat. Oh, and I can’t tell for certain, but it looks like Maria Callas behindKate/Goldie. Is that a young Michael Jackson in between Petain and Cruise? Einstein’s in there too.

Madonna occupies a suspiciously prominent position in this painting; around her though are some interesting people. Snoop Dog, of course, and Abe Vigoda. You can see the top of Gollum’s head from Lord of the Rings, part of Haley Joel Osmant, and Jerry from Tom and Jerry. Mickey Mouse and Lady Diana are joined by whom I swear is Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. Alice Cooper is next to Julia Roberts. Osama bin Laden makes an appearance, and Beethoven is above him. Andy Warhol and Marilyn Monroe front Britney Spears. In the upper middle of the painting is Clint Eastwood from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

To the right of Ahnold: Quentin Taratino is above Eminem. And it looks like the Dalai Llama and Monica Lewinsky are next to Ahnold’s wrist. The Stormtrooper is obvious, and next to Jimi Hendrix. Jack Nicholson and Dr. Evil are cavorting with Johnny Depp from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory who’s standing in front of Samuel L. Jackson as Shaft. The large white woman is Divine from Hairspray. It looks like Sinatra as Nathan Detroit and Ed Norton from American History X is behind her. I’m assuming that the man on the horse with the sombrero happens to be Pancho Villa.

Okay. That’s it. I could probably pick out a few more if I had the original images or if I could enlarge them. There are a few who are really familiar looking that I can’t quite place (the old man with the sunglasses, for example), and others that I can’t quite see. The AT-AT walkers from Star Wars are obvious, and might be in the wrong panel. That car at the top middle of the painting looks like the General Lee. And I believe both black women to be Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin.


Maybe I'll tackle the other one later.

[bixaorellana]

Okay, you're saying young Aretha for the woman on the far bottom right, too, correct?

I'm pretty sure the woman behind Salma Hayak is Celia Cruz.

Is that Britney Spears behind Marilyn Monroe?

[hwinpp]

Why is Napoleon on it? Or Noriega or Ghaddafi?
Do the French really think they're of the same calibre as Hitler, Stalin and Mao?

Ok, I get it. They're just amous for something...

[Deleted]

There's Robert DeNiro in the blue jacket with his hand up in the a ok gesture partially obscuring John Lennon's face.
They are very decent likenesses for the most part.

[bixaorellana]

That's not Robert DeNiro. That is Peter Falk.

[hwinpp]

Yeah, Peter Falk, Tom Cruise, James Bond, Gene Hackman, Mel Gibson, Jack Nicholson, John Travolta, Haley Osmond (the small boy from 6th Sense), all on that last pic. Also the bald English guy whose name I've forgotten, Austin Powers.

And what's the name of the old guy wearing sunglasses between Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise? I think he played General Patton in 'Patton'?

[bixaorellana]

That guy is making me crazy, too! It's not George C. Scott.

I keep thinking Aristotle Onassis, but don't think that's right, especially in that section. Could it possibly be Martin Scorsese? The guy in the picture seems older than Scorsese, though.

[nic]

On second thought, yeah, that is Celia Cruz. And, yes, that's Britney Spears behind Marilyn. I also happen to think that the guy in front of Beethoven is a young Robert DeNiro.

The old man with the shades is definitely not Scorsese. I want to say that it's Henri Langlois, director of the Cinémathèque Française during the May '68 troubles. Unfortunately, I don't think that's correct either. It's not Godard, Truffaut, or Bertolucci...

I know I've seen that exact photo somewhere too. Maybe an old Jean-Pierre Melville...

How'd we miss The Incredible Hulk (to the left of Petain's sign) and Shrek (above Tom Cruise's sign)? They're green! And that also looks like Robert E. Lee beneath the left side of Petain's sign.

[spindrift]

I spied Queen Elizabeth 1.....