Justin Forbes' Road Trip

Justin Forbes' Road Trip 1996

Gift of The Michael Brown and Linda Green Collection.

Stanley Staniski's exhibition currently at the Ogden, On the Road with Benny Andrews, is devoted partly to Route 66 and the fading remnants of roadside Americana, leftover ephemera from the rise of American car culture. The themes of migration, Americana and the Route 66 road trip bring to mind another body of work in the Ogden's collection, the work of Justin Forbes.

Justin Forbes' Neo- American Gothic 1996

Gift of the Michael Brown and Linda Green Collection.

Justin's highly narrative paintings tell the story of his journey from LA to New Orleans, of his life in the underground of the South and the Southwest. They attempt brutally honest portraits and iconic images of time and place. They often succeed.

For nearly twenty-five years, Justin has been working as a freelance artist. His clients and collectors include Larry Flynt, Epitaph Records, Tabasco, Santa Cruz Skateboards, Walt Disney, ESPN, Lallapalooza, Dragon Stout, actress Sela Ward and Better Than Ezra's Kevin Griffin. He has several paintings in the Ogden Museum's Permanent Collection.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Justin Forbes boarded a bus from the Superdome that dropped him off in Denton, Texas, where he remains today.