last.

NC 30 January 1998, One Honey bun.

DE 19 April 1996
Crab cakes with tartar sauce and cocktail sauce, fried potatoes, asparagus, rolls and butter, apple pie.

The last supper, is a project by painter Julie Green, in which she depicts the final meal requests of death row inmates. Painting a sad and moving portrait of a lonely and perhaps hopeless moment.

ID 6 January 1994
Prime rib, lobster, 2 pints of black walnut ice cream, rolls, 1/2 gallon milk, 2 liter bottle of Coca Cola .

The watery blue of the paint and the delicacy of the white plate- adds to the content of ceremony, sadness, and stillness. A graduate school colleague did the same project but documented the meals through meticulous still life drawings and prints.

AL 25 October 2006

Julia states:

This on-going body of work began in 1999 in Norman, Oklahoma. At that time, I was disturbed to find the final menus printed in the morning paper at the time of each execution. The daily Norman Transcript included Associated Press releases such as:.... He asked for a final meal of three fried chicken thighs, 10 or 15 shrimp, tater tots with ketchup, two slices of pecan pie, strawberry ice cream, honey and biscuits and a Coke.

OH 19 February 1999
Spaghetti, salad, strawberry shortcake, pop.

Because of the content, The Last Supper is challenging to produce and may be challenging to view. While painting, I think about the death penalty, the victims, the heinous crimes committed, the individuals executed, the large number of minorities on death row, and the margin for error in judicial process. I think about food, choice, and whether inmates are able to eat the food they order. Specific food requests, often regional specialties, sometimes tell where the individual lived and may provide clues on the one’s race and economic level. Inmates in some states are limited to food available in the prison kitchen. There is a great deal of red meat but few lobsters, and no sushi or Godiva chocolates. I make art as a way of processing information. I am opposed to the death penalty and hope this piece will help generate discussion that could result in positive change.

VA 27 April 2006

I am inspired by the courage in her work to look at and question something so difficult.