Susan Dorothea White Bibliography

A Second Look at Laughter: Humor in the Visual Arts

Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper has been parodied many times by contemporary artists. In 1988, Australian artist Susan Dorothea White painted The First Supper, replacing da Vinci’s thirteen white men with women from around the world and representing Christ as an Aboriginal woman.

Gérin places White’s painting among contemporary reinterpretations that use parody and irony to displace and subvert the meaning of Leonardo’s original. Such works move beyond the biblical narrative to critique gender and race relations, consumer culture and class. Their critical force depends not only on what is represented but also on how style, medium and colour transform an otherwise recognisable composition.