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Michael Pearce (born 1965) is an English, California-based figurative painter and author. ==Life and work== Michael J. Pearce was born in Lincolnshire, England in 1965. He is a figurative painter and an outspoken proponent of what he terms "skill based art". "Massive, mythical and brimming with allegorical subtext, Michael Pearce's paintings demonstrate a subtle alchemy all their own -- the transformation of ordinary oil paint and canvas into narratives that embrace the magic and romance of an earlier era." “Much of Pearce’s art is figurative and allegorical. He uses oil paint to transform canvases into stories that embrace the magic and romance of an earlier era. He uses conceptual themes that capture his audience by encouraging their individual imaginative interpretation of the events he has painted. There’s meaning here — a reconstruction of ideas bigger than self — that makes these paintings feel greater than their already large size.” The works are marked by the use of symbolism, male and female imagery and celestial references to address the mystical relationship between man and God.〔May 19th 2013 Interview in (Combustus Magazine ): Allegories & Alchemy: Paintings of Michael Pearce〕 They are "a beguiling mix of old-school technique and fresh narrative possibility".〔(New Times, April 22nd, 2015, Volume 29, Issue 39 ).〕 Pearce paints in oils on canvas, sometimes stretched over a wooden panel, creating allegorical or narrative figurative compositions of mystical or alchemical subjects. His installation work was typically made from simple materials like wood, unfired clay and beeswax, and was sourced from prehistory and alchemy. Speaking about his 2008 ''The Principle'' installation Pearce said ''"Alchemical imagery is so rich and mysterious that it can't fail to be exciting to an artist."'' 〔 In 2009 he combined actual alchemical experimentation with his artwork, showing his ''Cabinet of Alchemical Wonders'' in an exhibit in Glendale, California,〔Glendale News Press "Mimicking Nature" May 15th 2009〕 including a reflux still within the centre of a large glowing tree. His body of work connects him to his study of natural philosophy,〔''Philosophical ideas of ancient scientists inspired artist's new CLU show'' Time Out, Ventura County Star, Thursday October 9th 2008〕 an area he explored when studying early archaeological texts by William Stukeley and John Aubrey, whose eclectic writings led him to explore alchemical symbolism, steering the direction of his work toward mystical allegory. After 2008, Pearce became solely interested in oil painting, and began work on a series of new allegorical figurative works. The first of the group was exhibited in August 2011 at California Lutheran University in an exhibit titled "The New Romantic Figure", with prominent Californian artists including Alexey Steele, Jeremy Lipking, Tony Pro, Mia Tavonatti, Cyn McCurry, Peter Adams (President of the California Art Club) and Michael Lynn Adams. Looking back to the past for inspiration in his 2012 exhibit "Emblemata" he used 15th Century emblem books and tarot cards as source material, and presented art historical lectures on the Magician and the Fool archetypes.〔Ventura County Star, September 5, 2012, Michael Pearce's allegorical paintings go on display Sept. 8〕 Many of the paintings were presented in dramatic tabernacle frames that replicated those found on 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite works, whose wet-white painting methods he researched and used in the production of some of the canvases. Although he uses Victorian and Renaissance studio techniques he is determinedly contemporary, saying: ''"We can't be painting for the 19th century - we have to paint for the 21st century..."''〔Ventura County Star, August 28th 2011, Art Show Features Resurgence of Figurative Art〕 In 2015 he painted a new group of fifteen paintings called "Love" which caught the attention of writer David Molesky, who published an interview with him in Juxtapoz Magazine.〔''Michael Pearce. Art as Antidote'' Juxtapoz #179, December, 2015〕 Pearce described the paintings as "figures emerging from light", and said that he was writing another book "exploring the ideas of kitsch and sentiment" titled "Never Nothing". Since 1990 Pearce has lived in California, where he is now a Ventura County resident, having left Los Angeles to move to Thousand Oaks in 2008. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Michael Pearce (artist)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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