Mona Lisa meets Louis Vuitton in art gallery show

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We may never know why Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is smiling, but in Jason Alper’s version it’s pretty clear: She’s wearing a dress covered with the Louis Vuitton logo print. And he hasn’t stopped there, Alper gives Thomas Gainsborough’s ‘The Blue Boy’ a similar wardrobe makeover and splashed the distinctive LV logo all over the tablecloth at ‘The Last Supper’ to boot.

The tweaked takes on classic paintings are three of the eight oil paintings that make up “Proletarian Drift and the Enfranchisement of the Bourgeoisie in the 21st Century,” an art show opening Saturday at the Guy Hepner Gallery in West Hollywood.

Alper’s appropriation of the Louis Vuitton logo isn’t his first foray into fashion as funny business. As the costume designer for ‘Borat,’ he’s the guy to blame for unleashing the image of Sacha Baron Cohen in a neon green mankini on the world.

The LV logo play expands on a theme that cropped up in Alper’s debut art show ‘It’s All Back On,’-- at the same gallery back in April, which included, among other things, a Chanel logo constructed from some 5,000 Lego pieces.

There’s an opening reception at the gallery at 300 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, on Saturday, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., and we’re told some limited-edition screen prints will also be available for purchase.

We don’t know how Louis Vuitton, an oft-counterfeited brand known to vigorously defend its trademarks, feels about Alper’s latest works, but we might suggest he think twice before expressing his logo love on a hoodie or a handbag.

-- Adam Tschorn

Artist Jason Alper brings fashionable humor to Guy Hepner Gallery