Art Parodies - Poking Fun at Art is Inspiring

Perhaps you've seen the painting, "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper. It is an iconic modern scene depicting a few lonely people hanging out in a diner during the wee hours of operation. Simple and efficient, Hopper captures a melancholy scene with a mastery of lighting techniques. Recall in the movie, "As Good as it Gets", Jack Nicolson and Helen Hunt's characters decide to take an early morning walk for some hot rolls and arrive in time for the corner bakery to open. 

When modern-day artists choose to parody famous artworks, it is a form of flattery as well as a way to bring popular culture into the world of art. Gottfried's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is a now-famous parody of Hopper's "Nighthawks" using Hollywood icons to replace the characters in the late-night diner.
Maybe you can guess who they are!





Coolidge's "Dogs Playing Poker" was likely the inspiration for Andy Thomas' fantasy group portraits of Republican and Democrat Presidents (tagged in my recent 'Presidential Portraits' post). Both are less serious works that I consider whimsical works of art. Such Americana is often used as decoration in man caves, kitchens, rec rooms, and even floor mats across America. I believe that you may also customize which breeds of dogs (or politicians, Ha!).








The second most popular parody mimics Grant Wood's "American Gothic". One theme uses Star Wars figures to replace the farmer couple. In them, the wife is either replaced by the Wookie Chewbacca or becomes Princess Leia, complete with dueling buns and the original expression. The husband is replaced by a younger and better looking Han Solo in one and a sinister Sith in the other.

In addition to Star Wars characters, today's artists will insert familiar characters from The Simpsons, the Batman comics, and even the Muppets.

I found Muppet Cookie Monster in parodies of iconic works by Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dali and Japanese artist Hokusai. 

I like how Dali's watches are replaced by chocolate chip cookies and Hokusai's wave becomes

a wave of hunger for something sweet.

Of course, there are many parodies of the "Mona Lisa", "Girl with a Pearl Earring", and Edvard Munch's "The Scream", but I'll let the curious stumble onto those online!





It's fun to occasionally poke fun at art. I like to incorporate comics and images from newspaper articles into my art lessons to serve as ice breakers when I introduce a new artist/topic. I encourage my students to be on the lookout for art even in the media and on TV.

Here's a comic by Gary Larson that I saved from my comic-a-day desk calendar years ago when I was still working. I use it as a lead-in to lessons on Realism.

The artist is painting exactly what he sees.

Artists, even photographers, create illusions to trick our eyes and brains. Here, the weather or atmosphere is helping make the impossible cantilever ship. Painters who work largely in the two dimensions of a rectangular canvas need to employ techniques to create illusions of space, depth, perspective, texture, etc. Op Art takes it a step further using optical illusions (e.g. M.C. Escher and Victor Vasarely).

"Relativity" (1953), M.C. Escher

I wonder if J.K. Rowling used Escher's staircases as inspiration for the dormitories in the Harry Potter novels.

A literary parody!

Swimming-Pool In The High Street (Glasgow, Scotland)

Here's a 3D chalk illusion by Julian Beever.











And a collage of weird advertisements I pulled from the Internet. While I've never witnessed these in-person, I saw plenty of sidewalk art in London's Trafalgar Square on our UK trip in 2017.