Arctic Experience McNaught Gallery
July Newsletter - Version 3
|
|
Michael French - Surreal Perfection
French's paintings exhibit the kind of realism we experience in the realm of memory: dreamlike focus, attention to specific details, calm and reflective light, scenes of nostalgia and tranquility.
Inspired by Hyperrealism, French has worked to develop his own unique, realist style. Traditionally he painted from memory, working with his idealized notions of objects, people and places. The result is harmonious, balanced, beautifully-lit scenes, in which extraneous objects are removed and the subjects are frozen in surreal perfection. More recently French has started working with photographs, inspired by their ability to capture a moment in time.
French's techniques are particularly interesting. His compositions can have the feel of watercolour, but they are produced using acrylics and oils. He airbrushes acrylic for the first layer and then completes the painting with brush strokes and glazes of oil paint. The result has a unique quality of luminosity.
View other selections from Michael French
|
