Here are some photos from Saturday’s opening at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion. Thanks to everyone that came to the opening. It was quite a turnout. Thanks also to Eric Stoner for taking these photos of the evening. It was great to finally see all of these paintings in one room, and the pavilion is a perfect space for it. These shots really give a sense of the scale of the paintings, which is hard to communicate by listing the sizes on a posted image.
The show will be up for 6 weeks and I’ll be giving a gallery talk about the Lebowski Cycle at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion on Thursday, September 29th, from 7-10. More info on the show is here…
Baptism of Christ (After Carracci) • Joe Forkan 2011, oil on linen 24” x 38″”
Here is another painting from the exhibition. I haven’t written much about the process of the last few paintings that I’ve posted, but I will update the posts with more information after the opening. This painting is based on the tradition of Baptism paintings, of which there are many variations.
Baptism of Christ • Annibale Carracci 1584 Oil on canvas San Gregorio, Bologna
This is the smallest painting in the Cycle, and the composition is much simpler than the other work. Initially it was much more complex, with plans for two additional panels, but ultimately I decided the middle panel did everything I wanted the painting to do.
I was particularly drawn to Annibale Carracci’s painting on the theme from 1584.
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The Lebowski Cycle at The Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA • Sept 10 – Oct 28, 2011
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 10th 6-10pm
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I will be giving a Gallery Talk about the Lebowski Cycle at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion on Thursday, September 29th, from 7-10.
More info on the lecture and the exhibition is available here:
Jester (After Velazquez’s Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid) • Joe Forkan oil on linen, 48″ x 76″ (121.92 cm x 193.04 cm)
THE LEBOWSKI CYCLE – (Wall text from the exhibition) The Lebowski Cycle is a series of paintings and drawings exploring layered narratives, using masterpieces of European art and the 1998 Coen Brothers’ film The Big Lebowski as a starting point. The series 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. However, it is the human interactions and conflicts, formal qualities, and modes of depiction that were as interesting to me as the specific stories. I wanted to explore these ideas, but looked for a way to mitigate the grand seriousness that historical and religious paintings often contain. I started thinking about The Big Lebowski, (a favorite film, obviously) 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 combination led to hybrid images that reference art history, film, and contemporary art, from sources that inform, overlap and may even contradict each other, all run back through the imprecise language of painting. – Joe Forkan
Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid • Diego Velázquez 1636-1637 Oil on canvas 212.4 cm × 125 cm (49.2″ x 84″) Museo del Prado, Madrid
The Fifer • Edouard Manet 18 Oil on canvas 161 cm x 97 cm (63″ x 38 1/2″) Musee d’Orsay, Paris
Detail – Jester (After Velazquez’s Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid) • Joe Forkan oil on linen, 48″ x 76″ (121.92 cm x 193.04 cm)
The Lebowski Cycle at The Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA • Sept 10 – Oct 28, 2011 Opening Reception: Saturday, September 10th 6-10pm
Venus • Joe Forkan 2011, oil on linen, 72″ x 50″
Here is another painting from The Lebowski Cycle. I was looking at Titian’s Venus of Urbino and Manet’s Olympia. I’ll be posting more on this soon.
Venus of Urbino • Titian 1538 Oil on canvas 119 cm × 165 cm (47″ × 65″) Uffizi, Florence
Olympia • Édouard Manet 1863 Oil on canvas 130.5 cm × 190 cm (51.4″ × 74.8″) Musée d’Orsay, Paris
The Lebowski Cycle at The Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA • Sept 10 – Oct 28, 2011
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 10th 6-10pm
Sacred and Profane Love (After Titian) • Joe Forkan 2011 oil on linen, 72″ x 40″ (182.88 cm x 101.60 cm)
I’m currently finishing the framing of the last of the paintings in the studio headed for the show at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion. I framed 10 paintings this last weekend, with help from some friends. Delivering work on Monday.
Sacred and Profane Love Titian – c. 1513-1514 oil on canvas 118 cm × 279 cm (46″ × 110″) Galleria Borghese, Rome
My studio is going to seem really empty after sending off 14 large scale paintings for the show.
This piece is based on Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love. I’ll write more on the series once it is all installed, but wanted to post this recently completed painting from the Cycle.
Detail – Sacred and Profane Love (After Titian) • Joe Forkan 2011
