I AM A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST, that is to say, one who paints without benefit of art school instruction or degree. Given the modest measure of lurking talents I have inherited for visual communication, I am not embarrassed to admit that I work in the tradition established by 20th century French painter Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) often called Art Brut, or ugly art. Given the vile overtones of the contemporary worldstage this is only artworld label I can even casually embrace, while others might describe my work simply as outsider, naive, folk, lowbrow, or underground art. If in a generous mood, these same calculating tastemakers might even tag my work with the more inclusive designation of pop surrealism, which is nothing more than an innocuous catch-all term disseminated as purified art cognoscenti ether ever so frequently these days.

For more information—Pop Surrealism: the Rise Of Underground Art—is a comprehensive survey of this contemporary movement with several informative essays set among over a hundred fifty pages of well-produced reproductions of compelling images.

I live and work in Washington, DC, and in this context, I find myself continually drawn to the manifested contradictions of global society. I use figurative but erratic line, rough texture and virilent color to speak of that battleground where art and politics beat each other up while few are they who seem the wiser.

I view history and comptemporary culture as a freewheelin' exchange between truth and lie, honesty and cover-up. In an effort to expose the cliché as both prime soldier and stealth imposter of our times, my paintings are mere adverbs in a culture weary of language and camouflage. The rough line of my hand and vibrant colors of my palette both appall and appeal to a generation lost to worldliness yet unable to secure refuge in this accelerated age on the brink of [FILL IN BLANK].

♦♦♦ View my paintings HERE.