Yuxtaposición artística en La piel que habito de Pedro Almodóvar: en torno a las obras de Tiziano, Louise Bourgeois, Guillermo Pérez Villalta y Juan Gatti

Abstract

The Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar tends to use a set of significant details in order to create a network of senses in his films. This feature is also present in the film La piel que habito throughout some artistic works which are closely related to the theme and the plot. This paper analyses the role that some works of some famous artists, such as Tiziano Vecellio, Louise Bourgeois, Gillermo Perez Villalta and Juan Gatti, play in this film. This information helps to recognize how Almodovar modifies both the classical and modern works of art in order to give them new meaning by means of the transformations. Tiziano’s paintings reveal doctor Robert’s desire, whereas Louise Bourgeois’s works show Vera’s desire and her real life as a prisoner. Perez Villalta’s works expose the relationship between Robert and Vera. Juan Gatti’s paintings present the dichotomy of the skin and the ego, the main message of the film. Thus, all the artistic works that appear in La piel que habito refer to the relationship between the two protagonists or their mental world.