Artist Showcase: Max Voss Nester – Surrealism
Max and I have known each other for almost 16 years now. I remember he used to do these incredibly elaborate, fantasmagorical, and somehow realistic pencil sketches that he would spend weeks at a time completing.
Well, his work has evolved over the years. He still creates very detail oriented and often complex depictions, however there are a few key changes that have taken place. For one, Max’s art seems much more vibrant and colorful than it once was. The photo-realistic approach is maintained, but the subjects are no longer fantastical. Rather than creating a creature from his imagination to draw, Max will more likely find an imaginative combination of real subjects that one might not see juxtaposed in reality.
I believe that this is a constraint that Max has imposed on himself, for this style of painting. Now, Max has other styles that he affects, but the paintings below seem to have a common thread. They all explore the dialectic of reality versus absurdity. He combines extremes. In this style, Max is not interested in exploring where reality and absurdity meet, which could be described as fantasy. Instead, he seems more taken with the conflict of placing extremes from each category against one another. You won’t find a dragon, or any nymphs, or even a half-shark-alligator-half-man (although I’ve requested it). What you will find is extreme realism and extreme abstraction makin’ woopie.
So here’s some ideological porn, if you’re into that kind of thing.
Chaos and Confusion
Air Show
Theatre of the Absurd
Memory
Mr. Myxo
Link to Max’s page, maxvoss-nester.com.
