Miami-based Painters
Self-taught Cuban-born artist #MargaritaCano moved to Miami in 1962. She began developing her artistry in earnest after she retired in 1993. That’s the year Florida native @ThomasBils was born. Jared McGriff, born in Los Angeles with family roots from the rural South, has one of the best artist Instagram handles I’ve come across in a long time: @watercolorbrother
Stylistically, their range is as expansive as their ages and demographics.
Cano (Images 2-4) paints fanciful scenes, often with traditional religious or romantic imagery. Her flat, illustration-style works are filled with figures that float in the frame. Varying the intensity of the scenery colours adds visual depth and grounds your visual focus despite the lack of shadows or technical perspective.
Contrast these with the hazy, often incomplete figures of McGriff (Images 5-7). His figures also float in frame, but facial and other distinguishing features blend or disappear into the background. So while you think you know what seeing, you’re often left wondering just what, exactly, it is you are looking at.
Despite visual extremes in style, both artists present you with just enough to draw your attention without ever explaining the whole story. Unlike Bils (Images 8-10), whose sarcastic sense of humour and even sharper skills at #photorealistic painting leave little to the imagination and will have you laughing out loud.
Bils paints on actual bills that he can’t (or maybe just won’t?) pay. He sells the works for the sum of the invoice in order to pay it off. I find that rebelliously satisfying.
Ultimately, though, it’s Bils’ Local Village Customs (Image 10) that leaves the lasting impression. Like Griff’s landscapes (Image 7) or Cano’s Going with the Flow (Image 2), it conveys just enough emotion and intrigue to make you want to linger just that little bit longer.