Who are Emiliano Paolini and Marianela Perelli? Artist duo receives threats over Virgin Mary Barbie and Jesus Ken dolls
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA: The artistic duo Emiliano Paolini and Marianela Perelli have been at the receiving end of criticism and death threats once again. The artists have been receiving flak for their depiction of religious figures, predominantly Christians through the Barbie and Ken dolls.
Recently, Paolini and Perelli created a series in which the iconic Mattel dolls were depicted as Barbie Virgin Mary and a Ken Jesus doll. These depictions were displayed at a toy store in the Buenos Aires town of Luján, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The Argentine patron saint, Our Lady of Luján, has been symbolized by the Barbie doll wearing an embroidered mantle and a crown. Meanwhile, the Ken doll has been used to symbolize the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Who are Emiliano Paolini and Marianela Perelli?
Rita Marianela Perelli and Emiliano 'Pool' Paolini make up the artistic duo known as 'Pool & Marianela'. Paolini, born in 1983, earned his degree in Graphic Design from the Rosario School of Design, as reported by Gallery 30 South in Pasadena.
Born in 1979, Perelli completed her degree in Fashion Design from the Institute of Visual Communication in Rosario. Additionally, she holds a BFA with a specialization in sculpture from the National University of Rosario.
The duo met in 2009 and established their brand 'Pool and Marianela' in 2011. They first stirred controversy in 2014 with their exhibition titled 'Barbie: The Plastic Religion.' The collection featured 33 Mattel dolls stylized to resemble religious figures such as the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Luján, Christ, and other religious figures.
At that time, they stated that the exhibition had two goals: first, “to modernize the standard of beauty of religious imagery”, and second, “to draw attention to the commodification and “privatization” of faith.”
However, their religious representations of Barbie and Ken dolls fueled debates, with BBC comparing them to the León Ferrari controversy. After lying low for a year, the artists opened an exhibition at Popa Galería in La Boca, Buenos Aires, which was well received.
Paolini explained during that time, “We receive threats from various parts of the world. It's crazy,” before adding, "They've misinterpreted our work.”
Claiming that both of them are highly religious, Paolini said that they believed they have not done anything disrespectful, stating, “Religion always represented the virgins with the women who were the most beautiful.”
During that time, Marianela said, “We chose Barbie and Ken because they’re considered pop icons worldwide,” before adding, “A year ago, we weren’t ready to deal with how our work was being misinterpreted. After much deliberation, we felt the need to exhibit the series, and we only gave 10 days’ notice to limit the negative repercussions,” per The Guardian.
In 2016, Paolini and Perelli were invited by Mattel and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris to participate in an exhibition commemorating the iconic doll and the artists who have used it in famous artworks. While the museum obtained the Barbie Santa Genoveva [Saint Genevieve Barbie], the duo gifted a version of Barbie Virgen de Luján [Our Lady of Luján Barbie] to Pope Francis after being granted an audience.
What did Paolini and Perelli do?
The artistic pair has conducted occasional exhibitions of the Barbies and Kens reimagined as religious figures. It can be assumed that with Greta Gerwig’s directorial ‘Barbie’ creating ripples at the box office, Paolini and Perelli reintroduced the exhibition in the wake of the Barbie mania.
The duo introduced a Barbie doll modeled after the Medal of Our Lady of Graces in the previous week. In a panel interview with the Argentine news network TN Noticias, one guest accused the artistic duo to disrespect Our Lady of Luján.
The panel member Sergio Rubin said, “For the faithful, the Virgin of Luján is the patron saint of Argentines and devotion is very high … this can be taken as an offense,” before adding, “It is a manipulation of a sacred symbol for millions of Argentines and so far the church of Lujan has not ruled on it.”