A controversial figure known for his appropriation of paintings, sculptures, and performances by 20th-century masters such as Picasso, Warhol, Duchamp, and Pollock, Mike Bidlo approaches iconic modernist works as readymades. Bidlo has staged renowned performances re-enacting Warhol’s Factory and Pollock’s action paintings and famous act of urinating into Peggy Guggenheim’s fireplace. For Matisse/Picasso: A Cross Examination (2003), Bidlo produced large-scale murals of Picasso’s and Matisse’s heads on the walls of MOMA’s PS1, appropriated from the two artists’ self-portraits. A central member of the appropriationist movement in 1980s New York, Bidlo associated with Philip Taaffe and Sherrie Levine. “Tight-assed art historical taboos,” he has said, “I’m interested in exploring and penetrating those taboos.”