Wall Street Gothic 

Lucia Heffernan created this oil on canvas painting called 'Wall Street Gothic' in recent years. Heffernan has playfully recast Grant Wood’s iconic ‘American Gothic’ of 1930, and in so doing, she underscores the deep irony of the 2008 financial crisis. The artist's choice of oil paint, traditionally associated with high art, elevates the subjects and enhances their textures. This medium allows for smooth gradations of colour and realistic details that bring out the subjects' furry textures. The animals, the bear and bull of Wall Street, stand before the New York Stock Exchange. Heffernan’s skilled layering of paint creates depth, capturing the tension between the subjects and the setting. The humor is pointed: who is really the rube in this picture? The farmer or the financier? By appropriating a symbol of rural America, and placing the bear and the bull in that composition, she has cleverly commented on the financial crisis and the values it exposed. Ultimately, this painting encourages us to consider how cultural symbols can be reinterpreted to critique social and economic structures.