"app 4 distractions"

A Previous Featured Painting

Leonardo Davinci's Mona Lisa unable to sit still for the painting because she is trying to read a text on her iphone.
"app 4 distractions"
acrylic, oil, ink & pencils on paper
24 x 18 in © 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.

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more Featured Paintings

Visit my Current Featured Painting "app 4 disgruntled days". It was currently added to my site on April 2013. Also, visit my Archived Featured Paintings, I have about 20 Previous Featured Paintings. Each one of them has a story, a description about their creation as well as some background about their form, content and symbolism. Looking at the Previous Featured Paintings page I realize that I have had a wide range of interests over time in the figurative, narrative work that I have created over the years. I hope you can appreciate that an element that ties my work together is my desire to create thought provoking compositions that involve the figure, rich colors, and, often, the human theater.


If you enjoy the Featured Paintings know that it is updated three times per year on April, August and December. Please do return !