Forbidden Fruit. Acrylic Pop Art Painting on Canvas
Against a tangle of stylised foliage, a man and woman stand almost camouflaged within their surroundings.
The man tips his hat with old-world politeness, while the woman’s expression is less welcoming, edged with suspicion and curiosity.
A vertical divide, symbolically the “Gates of Eden” (the Bible got there before Bob Dylan), separates the lush, multicoloured vegetation from the monochrome desert beyond.
Having just passed through the gates, a serpent clutching the apple hops, rather than slithers, along the desert path.
Its expression is smug, glancing back in contempt, its perverted task already complete.
Rather than tempting this modern Adam and Eve, it seems content to escape with the forbidden fruit intact, taking temptation and the possibility of sin with it.
*Artist Doug Kemp with ‘Forbidden Fruit’ painting
Doug’s ironic twist recasts the Biblical fable through Pop Art surrealism. Here, self-awareness is never achieved, and innocence remains undisturbed.
The serpent, seemingly more frustrated than triumphant, leaves behind a paradise untouched by guilt or desire. Ignorance might not be seen as bliss by the serpent, whose motive remains unclear, but apparently is not a reformed character.
The couple remain in their vivid garden, suspended in an eternal Eden with, perhaps, a happy ending but without the self-awareness to understand or appreciate it.
If they are going to sin, they might as well be original.
