"Apollo" Painting

I've always loved the paintings of the old European masters: Rubens, Rembrandt, Tintoretto, Titian, Goya, Velasquez -- their stories, designs, techniques and sizes at which they painted, as well as the propensity of nudes in their art, still amaze me.

So I attempt to steal a little of their magic and put a new twist on it. I replace their designs with images referenced from the internet -- figures are replaced with nude dancers, burlesque performers, selfie models or bodybuilders (Rubens' nudes were always so buff!), clothing, drapery and hats become flowers (I've always had a love affair with flowers, I think that they are the best evidence of design of a higher power, and that's where you find all the best color!), faces feature celebrities, icons, masks and personas.

I paint these new compositions in a funky, still-haven't-totally-figured-it-out-yet, blurred, distorted, pixelated-looking technique using color shapers and pieces of rubber. I like the way this technique produces a look that falls somewhere between old & new, fake & real, illustrated & photographed, analog & digital, blurred & clear, fiction & truth. I think it also adds additional mystery and opens up more lanes of interpretation, creating a richer story as the viewer attempts to decipher and make sense of this curious combination of disparate objects.

Why the boxing gloves? Simply because 1) I hate painting hands, they're boring, 2) Boxing gloves are basically circles, a simple universal shape, and, 3) Red is my favorite color.