Banan-ART! Masterpieces recreated on fruit as artist uses pin to ‘tattoo’ skin



Since Michaelangelo many artists have taken inspiration from the Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor and architect who created some of the most seminal works in the history of Western art.

And until now few would have thought to etch copies of his masterpieces onto the skins of any kind of fruit.

But American Phil Hansen has used his background in pointillism to re-create some of the Sistine Chapel painter's most instantly recognisable artworks on the skins of bananas.



Likeness: Phil tattoos Michelangelo's Creation of Adam onto a a banana

To the point: Phil Hansen has re-created Ballet dancers by Edgar Degas by painstakingly inserting a pin into the skin of a banana

Phil, from Seattle, Washington spends hours painstakingly making the 'fruit tattoos' by pushing a pin into the banana enough times to make an image.

He has done Michaelangelo's The Creation of Adam and a depiction of his David as well as paintings by other celebrated artists.

These remarkable photographs show the banan-art interpretation of the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli and Edgar Degas' famous dancers.

But Phil revealed that his favourite 'tattoo' was his reproduction of the Skull with Burning Cigarette by Vincent van Gogh.



Speaking of how he discovered his new fruit-art fusion Phil said: 'I was sitting around one day doing some drawing, and my wife handed me a banana to eat as a snack.

Training: Phil uses his background in pointillism to create his fruity masterpieces

Influential: Michelangelo's David (left) is one of the artist's most celebrated works but Phil's favourite banan-art is Van Gogh's Skull with a Burning Cigarette (right)



'They are not my favourite to eat so I decided to draw on the banana with my pencil instead.



'A little later, I realised that the browning in the banana could make a quality image. '

Phil revealed how his background in pointillism - where an artist creates images with small dots of paint - helped him to apply a similar practice to bananas.

The 32-year-old spends up to two hours on each piece and after they are completed he leaves the fruit to rot and go completely black.

Detailed: Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli probably never imagined that his Birth of Venus would appear on a banana

He added: 'I've poked a lot of bananas making anything from simple designs and messages to masterpieces and people's faces.



'I let them sit until they become completely blackened. It's a unique experience to watch something you created being destroyed throughout the week.



'At first, I just ate the bananas but after eating too many, but now I also make banana bread.'



