I created a collection of paintings that show different scenes from American filmmaker and director John Hughes’ movies. I chose John Hughes as my inspiration because he is known for his iconic coming of age teen comedy movies. Many of his most enduring characters were written for his muse, Molly Ringwald. He is also known for his collaborations with the “Brat Pack”, a nickname given to a group of young Generation X actors who frequently appeared together in teen-oriented coming-of-age films in the 1980s. The core members of the group are actors Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The movies associated with this group directed by John Hughes are Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Pretty in Pink (1986). 

The first painting depicts the final scene from the film Sixteen Candles (1984) in which Samantha (Molly Ringwald) makes her birthday wish. The second painting is of the character Ferris Bueller from John Hughes’ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). The film centers around charismatic high school senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) and his attempt at one last skip day before graduation with his friends. The final painting is of the closing scene of The Breakfast Club (1985) where rebel John played by Judd Nelson raises a fist as he leaves detention while “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by the Simple Minds is playing in the background. I chose these three scenes because they are widely known and are arguably the most iconic scenes in which John Hughes has produced.