Noah Becker
The Prodigal Son, 2020
Acrylic on Canvas
121.9 x 91.4 cm
Copyright The Artist
A mannequin or a real boy? The ambiguous figure lays toy-like in a field, surrounded by boulders with their tell-tale graffiti. Disinterested in the phone at his side, the abandoned...
A mannequin or a real boy? The ambiguous figure lays toy-like in a field, surrounded by boulders with their tell-tale graffiti. Disinterested in the phone at his side, the abandoned figure could serve as a metaphor for the artist, while also gesturing toward the classical motif of dozing shepherd’s evidenced in work from Titian to, more appropriately, Francois Boucher. The subtle shading at the boy’s knee indicates a bruise, perhaps from the long, yet to be complete, journey home.