David M. Pettibone

 

I have never truly appreciated the inherent bizarreness of fish until visiting painter David M. Pettibone's Brooklyn studio last year and coming face to face with some of the works from his 2007 series featuring these generally aquatic creatures. And I guarantee you'll never look at a watermelon the same way again after viewing his classically-inspired, 2009 paintings that make good use of the fruit. As he explains about his work:

My figures tend to exist in between two realities. One, which is created by attempting to achieve a truthful portrayal of my subject and the second, is created by not denying the absolute physicality of the medium itself- oil paint. Through the paint, fleeting thoughts and feelings are slowed down so that the viewer can share with me my enthusiasm for these subtle nuances of the human condition.

It's true that Pettibone's forte is portraiture, but even the briefest glance through his portfolio shows an painter whose deft use of oils, regardless of the subject, is truly extraordinary.