Why Noir? The Unusual Suspects

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #9

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Why is Shakespeare still so popular after all this time? It's because his stories and characters are timeless. There have been countless versions of his plays where the settings and characters’ identities are changed to bring new interpretations to the story presented.

The characters in noir are as vivid and fundamental as an archetype. They are so solid they can be dressed up in any outer appearance and still resonate, still express the noir sensibility.

There are a profusion of examples of crime novels that star characters of many kinds, from the famous private eye Easy Rollins, to tough gay guy/investigator Dave Brandstetter.

The themes are universal and can be ascribed to any individual. So, I can change the outer identities of my characters, and it can still be noir.

©lesliepetersonsapp Bars 16x20

The scenes in my artwork are presented without irony and are imbued with an immediacy which invites the viewer to experience the scene as a contemporary moment.

They don’t coyly refer to themselves as being "film noir" or use signifiers to make them seem like cultural artifacts.  There is no breaking down of the fourth wall.

It is as if we could walk through the picture frame and become part of the action. If this could be possible, what would we see, and who would be there?

©lesliepetersonsapp Incognito 10x8

©lesliepetersonsapp The Hanged Man 32x18

It is easy for me to depict white, cis-gender women. It’s more of a stretch to depict scenes with people outside my personal lived experience.

But the figures in my work and in my imagination sometimes take on a life of their own, and want to be expressed as they are: male, non-white, queer...

To not follow these impulses would, in effect, be negating their existence.

Whether I handle this successfully is a question I continually ask myself.

The adaptability of film noir characters allows me to enlarge the limits of my understanding and expression. 

©lesliepetersonsapp Keys 40x48

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Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.