Moustached Mona Lisa watches over Vienna crossroads

A sculpture of a bearded Mona Lisa crafted by an Indian artist praised as “Asia’s Damien Hirst” has gone on display in Vienna.Subodh Gupta said yesterday (Tues) he wanted to communicate with late French-American artist Marcel Duchamp with his work “Et tu, Duchamp?”.Duchamp controversially reproduced Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous painting with a moustache and goatee in 1919. Gupta’s oversized work – on display at the Karls Square traffic hub in the city centre of Vienna until 31 October – also features the same styles of beard.”I saw an exhibit of Duchamp’s work at [London’s] Tate Modern years ago and felt the urge to communicate with him. I worship him as the godfather of concept art.” Gupta – who is regarded as one of the most important installation and sculpture artists in the world right now – said.