Caravaggio’s “Judith Beheading Holofernes”

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This is a new painting from my “app” series and was inspired by Caravaggio’s (1573-1610) painting “Judith Beheading Holofernes”… my version has a modern twist, of course.

app 4 distractions2 © GN 2011

28″ x 22″ acrylic, oil, ink & pencils on board

app 4 distractions

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“app 4 distractions”
acrylic, oil, ink & pencils on paper
24″ x 18″ © 2011 Gabriel Navar

This is my recent app painting where I decided to re-visit one of my favorite “nostalgic” artist “heroes”, Leonardo da Vinci and his most famous portrait, “Mona Lisa”. In my parody version, I explore the idea of La Giaconda being distracted (while sitting for the artist) by a received text or social-media update (on her iPhone device) on twitter, facebook, or youtube video feed. Surrounding the model, I decided to write (chalkboard style, similar to writing “lines” on the board as punishment for inappropriate or devious behavior) the word “distractions” over and over again. However, I wrote it in a format that mirrors the way Leonardo would write in his notebooks: He usually used “mirror writing”, starting at the right side of the page and moving to the left. In a mirror, one may see the message reversed and correctly. I believe that if da Vinci were alive in these times, he most likely would have developed the most sophisticated technological devices (like the iPod or iPad, by Steve Jobs) and, probably also, the most streamlined texting approaches.