Image courtesy of the artist.
My individual realist style combines painting with drawing, juxtaposing stark black and white graphite images on paper, with opulent acrylics on canvas. My somewhat oversized canvases transport the viewer to rambunctious inner-city settings, where counter-culture characters wearing street inspired dress, and reflecting an abrasive, yet nonchalant attitude, aggressively confront and engage with the audience. Abandoned brick buildings adorned with colorful graffitti messages and imagery, evoke the underground intrigue and dangers of revolutionary artistic critiques of culture. My graffitti imagery is not only meant as mere adornment to enhance the hardcore atmosphere of the inner city compositions, but also as symbolic codes and challenges to the overbearing power structure and the politically correct world in which we live. In my new “Forgotten Faces” series, I want to remind the viewer of those whom our society has forgotten, particularly, the countless homeless veterans. My visual compositions often include messages meant to engage the viewer, and hopefully prompt them to think as well as to enjoy the artistic merit of the composition.
