BRUSH WITH FAME 'FOCKERS' IS LOCAL ARTIST'S BIG EXPOSURE.

Byline: Martin S. Gonzalez Staff Writer

Like any proud parent would, Patrick Maisano of Pasadena beamed when he saw his babies on the screen in the movie ``Meet the Fockers.''

His babies were not twins Spencer or Bradley Pickren, who play the adorable Little Jack in the film, or even the host of dogs and cats that were employed to hilarious effect in the film as pets.

Maisano's babies were a collection of his paintings used throughout the film's many sets.

``It's great to see your work on the screen like that,'' he says. ``It's always great to have yours displayed, and this is just another way to have it shown.''

A graduate of the University of Connecticut who once contemplated becoming a priest, Maisano's paintings resonate from the influence of symbolism and the work of 20th century painters such as Pablo Picasso, Odilon Redon and Max Beckmann. Maisano's work often has a mythic quality and he likes to work with archetypical images that include animals.

``It is symbolic work, I would say. What I try to do often is to establish metaphors for universal truths in my paintings.''

Although he has been painting full-time for more than a decade, Maisano's work only recently made it up on the silver screen and by somewhat of a coincidence. An agent who specializes in placing art works in television and film saw his work in a gallery in New York and approached him. One of his paintings was actually placed in the 1999 remake of ``The Thomas Crown Affair,'' but got left on the cutting room floor.

``I saw the movie and I did not see my painting anywhere, so I assumed it got cut from the film. I still got paid, at least.''

In ``Meet the Fockers,'' five of his paintings were used throughout the film, with ``Still Life With Head of a Man,'' hung in the Fockers' living room, getting the most screen time.

``It happens very randomly and infrequently, but you get a very good rental fee, and all of the paintings are returned to you when the film is completed,'' Maisano says. ``In fact, several of the paintings were purchased privately before filming began. They had to make prints of the paintings to use in the film.''

Maisano says he thought the paintings the production crew chose for the film reflected the spiritualness of the Fockers, played in the film by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand.

``I remember one of them said the woman in 'Man With Woman in Boat at Night,' reminded her of Streisand.''

The man in the painting is a dead-on knockoff of Dustin Hoffman as well.

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Photo:

(1) MAISANO

(2 -- 4) Pasadena artist Patrick Maisano's ``Man With Woman in Boat at Night,'' left, and ``Still Life With Head of a Man,'' above right, were used in ``Meet the Fockers,'' including the scene, above, where the latter artwork appears.