Tag Archives: Pontius Pilate

The Lebowski Cycle – Ecce Homo

Ecce Homo (After Guercino) • Joe Forkan 2009, oil on linen, 72" x 40"

Ecce Homo Il Guercino 1647 Oil on canvas 42.25 in x 58.66 in Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Ecce Homo Il Guercino 1647 Oil on canvas 42.25 in x 58.66 in Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Ecce Homo are the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate when he presented Jesus Christ, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd shortly before his crucifixion. The Ecce Homo is a standard component of paintings illustrating the Passion of Christ.

For this painting, I was really looking for a strong narrative with energy, physical conflict and resignation, that could shift from seriousness to the absurd and back.  This painting references a scene from the Big Lebowski, in which the Dude is arrested by the Malibu police.

Whether it’s Pontius Pilate or the Chief of Police of Malibu, narrative conflict is narrative conflict, and provides a moment of tension and drama on which to build.

Six of the twelve original paintings in The Lebowski Cycle deal with the Passion of Christ: The Agony in the Garden, The Taking of Christ, Ecce Homo, The Deposition, The Lamentation, and The Supper at Emmaus. All are near completion.

The Lebowski Cycle – The Taking of Christ

The Taking of Christ (After Caravaggio) • Joe Forkan 2009, oil on linen, 72" x 40"

This painting is based on Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ painted in 1602. I wanted to combine the gravity of the original painting, (with its dynamic composition and the drama of the moment depicted) with the humor of the movie, and really push the way the figures read with the marks and the use of color.

The Taking of Christ Caravaggio 1602 Oil on canvas 52.6 in × 66.7 in National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

The Taking of Christ Caravaggio 1602 Oil on canvas 52.6 in × 66.7 in National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

The images in these paintings are derived from scenes in the film, but are built from many frames in a single scene as well as from additional photography and manipulation, reconfiguring the compositions to try to capture the movement and drama of baroque era painting, while thinking of film language and contemporary ideas of painting. The history of painting and state of painting are also subjects of The Lebowski Cycle.