Michael Zigmonds hyperrealistic painting
American realist painter focuses on the reality of the environment in which he lives and paints. Using a combination of photographic reference and direct observation, each composition is awash in intense light. According to the artist, he enjoys the interplay of light and shadow rendered near a solid object. Born in Ohio, the artist has enjoyed the opportunity to participate in over 50 exhibitions including shows in Boston, San Francisco and New York.

Artist’s Statement
Looking back at my days as an undergraduate studying drawing and painting, I’m struck by the fact that there were so many contradictions in what I learned. Most of my instructors came of age in the 1950s with their feet planted firmly in the school of Abstract Expressionism. There, the surface of the work was the only true reality and any attempt at narrative or depiction seemed a hopelessly outmoded form of expression. Yet concurrently, I was drawing from the figure nearly every day, attempting to master the very time-honored tradition they had forsworn. If this curriculum confused many students, I was certainly one of the bewildered. That mixed message I received always disturbed me and I suppose my work since then has been an attempt at reconciling two opposing philosophies.

Michael Zigmonds hyperrealistic paintings

www.michaelzigmond.com