Diane Von Furstenberg's "Faceless" Campaign Channels Surrealism

Good advertising instills a desire in the viewer to become a part of the scene, and good ads frequently invoke the masters of art in order to get their messages across. Diane Von Furstenberg's "Faceless" campaign for her Spring 2012 collection takes a hint from Surrealism to take the image of desire to a whole new level.

In this surrealist homage DVF captures a model whose face has been covered by a mirror and reflects the sky. The faceless model echoes John Baldessari's blipped out faces, treating the face as irrelevant and distracting. There is a strong reference as well to Rene Magritte's self portrait "The Son of Man," which hides the face and features the motif of blue sky.

Of his work, Magritte said: "Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us."

The bottom of the "Faceless" ad reads: "Be who you want to be." The image both invites you to into the images and exposes the very impossibility of the image. On the one hand the model's face is a mirror; she could be anyone, even you. And yet the mirror will always reflect the sky. Revealed is the myth, a fabrication.

What do you think of the ad? Is it more Magritte or Baldessari?

Does it make you want to buy a wrap dress or head over to the nearest art museum?

Let us know in the comments section below!