What do Leonardo's Mona Lisa, Rodin's The Thinker and Munch's The Scream have in common? Mr Tayto, according to Alexis Bannerman.
The Cork-based artist has created a series of paintings and prints that place the crisp mascot – perhaps one of Ireland's most popular cultural images – into western art history. "I've always respected and emulated pop art," she says. "Pop art elevates the normal in culture and the brands we love. It's also cathartic to put Mr Tayto in a revered masterpiece. It makes me laugh so much when I am deciding on a concept for a piece."
The first thing I ate in Ireland was cheese-and-onion Tayto. In fact, my siblings and I ate three bags in a row, each, before the barman reported us to our parents
Bannerman, who is originally from north Wales, says it was a boat trip to Ireland with her family in her youth that helped inspired the paintings. "After being seasick [on the ferry] I was starving. The first thing I ate here in Ireland was cheese-and-onion Tayto. In fact, my siblings and I ate three bags in a row, each, before the barman reported us to our parents. After that Tayto was just stuck in my childhood mind, and I really wanted to do him justice."
Bannerman, who then studied fine art at Crawford College of Art and Design, followed by a master's in art history at University College Cork, started to see the idea for a Mr Tayto sequence after seeing the Caravaggio painting The Taking of Christ at the National Gallery of Ireland, in Dublin. "I made a series of drawings called Caravaggio, with Crisps. From there Mr Tayto just seemed to walk into my drawings."
She later went to the Picasso Museum in Malaga "and created Potato Picasso there. In my final-year show I had three large-scale pieces with Mr Tayto, and they all sold. I made postcards of the art too, which sold out, which proved to me that this really did resonate and delight others too."
You can see more of Alexis Bannerman's art on Instagram and buy prints of her Mr Tayto series on her website and Instagram shop
