Artist re-creates capture

Local's painting tells fanciful tale of POW

Artist Vince Fodera has painted boxers, showgirls and celebrities, but his newest portrait subject was inspired by war.

Fodera worked for months to portray his version of the exact moment of Iraq war prisoner Jessica Lynch's capture. With the painting now complete, Fodera hopes to have the painting placed in the capital of Lynch's home state of West Virginia.

The northeast Las Vegas resident worked diligently to get all his details correct. He began with newspaper accounts and television reports, and then moved on to magazine photos and books to get just the right symbols on the patches on the Iraqi soldiers' uniforms. He looked for photos of the type of truck Lynch was in, as well as depictions of the weapons and uniforms that would have been used.

Fodera even researched the night sky to make certain the moon's phase was accurate to the night of Lynch's capture. Then he added symbolism, including stars set in the constellations that would have been present at the second war's beginning and end.

"No one took a picture of that moment, so I had to guess about a lot of it," Fodera said, adding that he has the same artistic license to fill in the blanks that a movie director would have.

Fodera began his creative endeavors early. Shortly after his 1929 birth in Brooklyn, he always had a pen or a crayon in hand.

"At only a year old, right from the get-go, I had a crayon in my hand and I was drawing recognizable drawings," he said. "I'm not saying I was a child prodigy, but I was prodigious."

The artist studied at the High School for Music and Art in New York. He went on to New York's School of Visual Arts and the Pratt Institute.

In Las Vegas, Fodera made a living as a portrait artist. He spent 35 years sketching people in pastels or painting them in oils, signing his work VincenZo. He said many may remember him from his days at the Frontier. The artist didn't do the quick caricatures popular today. His portraits took from an hour to four hours to complete.

While many of his subjects were regular people, occasionally Fodera had an opportunity to work on stars. He still recalls the day Arsenio Hall strolled up to his portraits and commented on them.

"He was wearing dark glasses and I almost didn't recognize him. He said he loved the paintings," Fodera said.

Hall gave Fodera a check, an address and a photograph and commissioned the artist to paint a portrait of him.

"Then he told me he was thinking about leaving his show so he could make a movie with Eddie Murphy. It ended up being 'Coming to America.' I wish he wouldn't have done it. He had the best show," Fodera said.

Fodera's other brushes with fame came when he painted old West scenes for Hustler magazine mogul Larry Flynt.

"I've been to his house a couple of times to drop off paintings. He was always very kind to me," Fodera said.

Fodera was one of only a few artists allowed behind the scenes of the World Series of Poker at Binion's Horseshoe. His paintings depict poker's best players studying their cards.

In his boxing series, Fodera captures sports stars such as Mike Tyson and Razor Ruddock. The artist effectively captures the sweat-drenched fury of his subjects. Fodera has inside knowledge because in his youth, he was a boxer. In 1946, at age 16, he was an undefeated Golden Gloves semifinalist. He only was removed from the competition when he came in over the weight limit for his division. After that, he hung up his gloves.

"That was enough. I proved I could do it. I wanted out. I didn't want to end up with a broken nose or cauliflower ears," he said.

When Fodera wasn't busy with his portraits, he painted casino slot machine glass for Sunkist Graphics. For years he could walk through almost any casino in town and point out his work. Many paintings made it into slot machines as far flung as Russia, but Fodera said most have now been replaced with newer designs. The artist also trained painters on painting cruises.

Fodera's recent works have been more political and symbolic than his portrait work. He said a few years back, he set out to design a new American Flag for the 21st Century. He added black, brown and yellow stripes to the traditional red, white and blue. A museum in Phoenix took the idea and went with it, inviting major artists around the country to submit their versions of what the flag should look like.

Fodera said he's usually full of ideas. In 1964 he founded the Vince Moblechair Corp., a company dedicated to building motorized chairs. The idea, now commonplace, was ahead of its time. Fodera said people thought the chairs, at $400 plus, were too expensive. Store owners worried about providing them to customers, since kids could commandeer them and roll all over the store. Potential customers turned away since they didn't think the chairs could get up over sidewalk curbs.

"I was 30 years ahead of my time," Fodera said. "I couldn't patent the design since there were so many variations possible, so I gave it up."


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