Michael Cheval

Michael Cheval is a contemporaty painter, born in Russia, raised in Germany and who studied at the Ashgabad school of Fine Art in Turkmenistan. I often look sideways at contemporaty artists who call entmselves “Surrealists”, without adhearing to the Surrealist doctrine of unconscious or dream based imagery. Refreshingly, Cheval recognizes that and instead refers to his approach as “Absurdist” painting. He is obviously influenced by the Surrealist painters, in particular Magritte and Dalí, sometimes refering to them directly in his paintings. He also features other notable figures like Steve Jobs and John Lennon. Cheval plays with the conventions of gravity, space and composition, often in a high key palette with sharp value contrasts. He appears to have a whimsical fascinsation with court jesters and chessboard patterns. I particularly like his homage to Vermeer, in which he literally turns part of a Vermeer-like composition upside down (above, top). The home page of his website…