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Fred Folsom: Women Smoking and Last Call

Presented by the Alper Initiative for Washington Art
February 8 鈥 May 18, 2025

Fred Folsom, Artist
Jack Rasmussen, Curator

Fred Folsom, 4:05 AM, 2007. A nude woman smoking a cigarette in an ordinary kitchen at night. Behind her, a dying plant, a pan, and a kettle.
Fred Folsom, 4:05 AM, 2007. Oil on linen, 30 x 24 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Overview & Events

Gallery Talk 鈥
Saturday, March 8, 2:00鈥3:00 p.m.


Saturday, April 5, 6:30 鈥 8:30 pm

The paintings of nudes in Folsom鈥檚 body of work called Women Smoking are rendered in transparent layers, gently glazed in the style of the Dutch masters to fit seamlessly into their interiors. The paintings are somber, intimate, introspective Rorschach tests appropriate to their sad inspiration: 鈥淐igarettes killed my mom at 58 and my sister Susan at 30.鈥

Folsom鈥檚 best-known works are from his LAST CALL series of large honky-tonk scenes in a local strip joint. Originally considering himself a Surrealist, in 1983 he chanced upon the Shepherd Park Go-Go Bar: 鈥淭he situation inside that nightclub was way-weirder than any of my surreal artwork.鈥 He photographed the interior and began a 7鈥檟20鈥 triptych, LAST CALL at the Shepherd Park Go-Go Bar, which he describes as 鈥溾 140 square foot prayer.鈥

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Fred Folsom, Cold Tea, 2008. A nude woman smoking beside a coffee table with a half written letter and a teacup on the opposite side in a luxuriously decorated room.

Fred Folsom, Cold Tea, 2008. Oil on linen, 30 x 24 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

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Oil on linFred Folsom, Fight at the Sheperd Park Go-Go Bar, 1993-1994. Exaggerated brawl in a strip club in unusual blue, orange, and green lighting.

Fred Folsom, Fight at the Sheperd Park Go-Go Bar, 1993-1994. Oil on linen, 80 x 120 inches. Courtesy of the artist.