Julie Green: The Last Supper

The Last Supper features nearly 1,000 hand-painted ceramic plates, illustrating the last-meal choices of U.S. death-row inmates.  Artist Julie Green (1961-2021) spent twenty-two years creating this large-scale art installation by painting images of the final meals on found ceramic plates, using cobalt blue mineral paint.  Boise Art Museum is the first institution to show all available plates created during the artist’s lifetime.  The Last Supper encourages viewers to consider the U.S. prison system and the way we think about those who are within it.  By linking us together through our basic need for food, Green sparks a human connection and opens our hearts and minds to individuals in our society who are disregarded and forgotten.

“A final meal request humanizes death row for me.  Selections provide clues on region, race, and economic background. A family history becomes apparent when Indiana Department of Corrections ads, ‘he told us he never had a birthday cake, so we ordered a birthday cake for him.’”

-Julie Green (b. 1961, Yokosuka, Japan – d. 2021, Willamette Valley, Oregon)

Collection of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Organized by the Boise Art Museum.

Grant support provided by ArtBridges Foundation.