Category Archives: Figurative Painting & Drawing

Relics – Some Early Work

Victory Dance • Joe Forkan 1999 • 48 x 24

Victory Dance • Joe Forkan 1999 • 48 x 24

I recently participated in the Facebook Art challenge (artists on Facebook posting 3 images each day for 5 days). I put up some work I hadn’t posted before, and decided to post it to the blog as well. Here are some early pieces from the late 90’s. These are from a series that I did thinking about the mutability of memory. I painted these using old, vernacular photos – mostly thrift stores finds, as a starting point, and also used a few photos from some very old family photo albums.

The Bridge • Joe Forkan 1998 48 x 60

The Bridge • Joe Forkan 1998 48 x 60

These paintings were initially blocked in with spray paint on wood panels with about a dozen coats of gesso on them. The images were then worked with a power sander, sanding blocks, clay tools, sculpture chisels, thick oil glazes and impasto.

The Dance • Joe Forkan 1997 24 x 32

The Dance • Joe Forkan 1997 24 x 32

The process got repeated until the surfaces were pretty tortured. Most of them were then screwed into massive, welded, rusted angle iron frames. The big ones must’ve weighed more than 60 lbs. Really stress tested the gallery walls…

Relics of Misremembrance I • Joe Forkan 1998 35 x 16

Relics of Misremembrance I • Joe Forkan 1998 35 x 16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Relics of Misremembrance II • Joe Forkan 1998 41 x 14

Relics of Misremembrance II • Joe Forkan 1998 41 x 14

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reunion • Joe Forkan 1997 32 x 24

Reunion • Joe Forkan 1997 32 x 24

 

Masks of Time • Joe Forkan 1998 24 x 38

Masks of Time • Joe Forkan 1998 24 x 38

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closing reception for The Lebowski Cycle at College of the Canyons Art Gallery

Lebowski Cycle at College of the Canyons_cropped_1000

The Lebowski Cycle installed at The College of the Canyons Art Gallery

The exhibition of The Lebowski Cycle at College of the Canyons Art Gallery in Santa Clarita, CA is entering its last week on display.

There will be a closing reception this coming Saturday, December 6th from 3:00 – 7:00 pm.

This will be the last weekend that the gallery will be open to see the show.

Come up if you can!

New Exhibition Poster available from 2014 Lebowski Cycle Exhibition

lebowski_cycle_POSTER_2014_72dpi

A new exhibition poster from the 2014 Lebowski Cycle Exhibition is now available.

The poster commemorates the exhibition at College of the Canyons Art Gallery, in Santa Clarita, CA.

The exhibition is on view from Oct 28 – Dec 10, 2014. Info is here.

$28.00 including FREE Shipping and Handling within Continental US. • $10.00 additional shipping for orders outside continental U.S.

The poster is an 18″ X 25.25″ Digital Offset Print –  Limited Edition of 200 – Signed and Numbered by the Artist.

Limited Edition prints of all of the paintings from the Cycle are available, and the 2011 Exhibition poster featuring The Oath of the Horatii is also still available.

Orders can be placed here.

The Lebowski Cycle – New Painting and Upcoming California Exhibition of the Lebowski Cycle *updated*

The Incredulity of St Thomas 1000 color adjust

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (after Caravaggio) • Joe Forkan 2014 Oil on Linen 72″ x 40″

l am pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition of The Lebowski Cycle at College of the Canyons Art Gallery in Santa Clarita, CA, from Oct 28 – Dec 10, 2014.

There will be an opening reception and artist talk Tuesday, October 28th from 2-5 pm, as well as a closing reception from 3-7 pm on Dec 6th.

The exhibition will include all 14 of the original large scale paintings from the Lebowski Cycle, plus a recently completed 15th painting from 2014, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, seen here.

Lebowski Cycle at College of the Canyons1000

The Lebowski Cycle installed at The College of the Canyons Art Gallery

 
Hours and directions to the gallery can be found here.
 
I’ll be posting additional information about the show and more about this painting soon.
The Incredulity of St Thomas detail color adjust 1000

Detail • The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (after Caravaggio) • Joe Forkan 2014 Oil on Linen 72″ x 40″