This painting, made for the Rourke Art Museum’s Annual Midwestern Invitational Exhibition, was based on the theme, “Neo-Dadaism”. Dadaism was a style of art originating in the early 20th century, in reaction to the horrors of war and capitalism, etc. This reaction against tradition and culture led to many new and different ideas.

This 2-part piece, showing a precocious little girl, includes a shadow box filled with found objects representing the girl. I found the objects on the floor while working as a gallery guard at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, in Minneapolis, MN. The idea of “found objects” as art objects may be one aspect of Dadaism. The title, a subtle yet perverted word play, completes the theme.

An archetype portraying the girl/woman, this Lolita wears a white dress and carries her lollipop. She may be fidgety and shy, but seems not to care. The frame for both the painting and shadow box are painted pink. The box was positioned directly under the painting, on the floor. You had to bend down to look at it, thus kneeling at the foot of Dada.