Untitled Good & Plenty Drawing #5

Untitled Good & Plenty Drawing #5
Paul Spina

Artist Biography
Acquisition Number: 2022.10
Medium: Acrylic and ink on paper
Size: 20 x 16 in.
Date: 1985
Credit: Gift of Esther Trepal

This work contains a common image of the 20th Century Fox logo as well as Spina’s signature candy, Good & Plenty. It draws on his childhood memories of going to the movies with his father, where they loved the action Western and WWII films of the time as well as newsreels which covered the war. Good & Plenty was Spina’s favorite candy, and eventually became his signature motif, present in many of his works. He chose this motif because he felt that many people try to “candy coat” unpleasant things, so he painted his view of reality and then coated it with candy to make it more palatable.