Joe Forkan
Barbara Ritzman Devereux Artist Workshops - UNF Gallery at MOCA
Opens Feb. 3, — April 1, 2012
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Presented as part of the Barbara Ritzman Devereux Artist Workshop, Joe Forkan’s The Lebowski Cycle is the result of a longstanding interest in narrative painting, particularly paintings from the Baroque and Neoclassical eras; complex figurative works that depict grand story arcs, compressing a multitude of thoughts, ideas and emotions into a singular image. Forkan wanted to explore these ideas, but looked for a way to mitigate the grand seriousness that historical and religious paintings often contain. He started thinking about one of his personal favorite films, The Big Lebowski, trying to imagine how the characters, humor and preposterous story arc of the film might be enlisted to explore multiple points of view, moods, and intentions if combined with themes and titles from well-known works of European art. The result are 14 dynamic images inspired by masterpieces of Western European art that have been taking the country by storm.
IMAGE CREDITS
Image 1: Supper at Emmaus (After Caravaggio), 2006-2009
Oil on linen 96“x 38”
Image 2: The Taking of Christ (After Caravaggio), 2009
Oil on linen, 72” x 40”
Image 3: Jester (After Velazquez’s Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid) 2011
Oil on linen, 48” x 76”
Image 4: The Raft of the Medusa (After Géricault), 2011
Oil on linen, 84” x 144”
Image 5: Baptism of Christ (After Carracci), 2011
Oil on linen 24” x 38“”
Image 6: Oath of the Horatii, 2006-2010
Oil on linen, 72” x 40”
Supporting Programs
Thursday, March 8
LECTURE:
Ideas and Process: Painting The Lebowski Cycle
7 p.m.
Thursday, March 8
FILM:
The Big Lebowski
9 p.m.