A British artist has recreated Mona Lisa using 100 iPhones after his view of the original in the Louvre was blocked by selfie-takers.

Birmingham-based artist Imbue spent months printing images of Leonardo da Vinci's famous portrait on laser-cut panels.

He then placed the panels inside phone cases and arranged them to create a mosaic-effect of the painting.

The artist said he was inspired to create the image after his visit to the Louvre in Paris was ruined by people glued to their phones.

The 37-year-old said: "I was in the Louvre and noticed how many people were there just to see the Mona Lisa and ignored all the other great art in the museum."

"When I was in the room where you can view the Mona Lisa I was at the back in front of about 30 people all holding up their phones and taking pictures."

"Everyone wants to capture moments and they don't want to miss out on the memory but they end up missing out what's happening by using their phone. "

"I was struck that people had travelled across the world only to view artwork on a screen. "

"I'm not trying to hammer something home but I think people will smile and get the idea of experiencing things for real rather than looking through your phone. "

"People want to see things and go to destinations so they can take a photo rather than being there for what it is."



Imbue hit the headlines in 2023 after he used £1million of shredded cash in artworks displayed next to the Bank of England casting the cash into human-sized resin skulls.

The artist, real name Robert Lewis, has amassed has 90,000 social media followers and he regularly posts his work on Instagram.

The father-of-one is currently hosting his largest exhibition called ‘Name Lost All Meaning', which runs in Digbeth, Birmingham, this week.

Imbue says he hopes to highlight how the growth of AI and social media has made people view art as "throwaway". "

Another of his works features a 10ft-high Trojan Horse built from hundreds of Amazon boxes.



He said: "I've always loved building things with my hands, it used to be Lego and cardboard boxes and art was the only subject I was good at."