Michael McNamara was born in Detroit, Michigan, and educated at the Detroit Center for Creative Studies and the Art Students League of New York City. He is a contemporary painter of the Ashcan School, bringing a soft touch to the hard edge of the big city. “My work reaches toward the soul of my subject, revealing both the drama in life and the passion felt within my own heart. From my life’s experiences, I bring forth the images in which I find inspiration, humanity, and emotion. Much of my work explores the complexities of the urban environment, both graphically, through the geometric relationships among elements of an intricate man-made infrastructure, and emotionally, by depicting the effects and conditions which this environment creates for its community.
Using color and value to establish the emotional impact of the subject, I emphasize the repetition of form and overlapping planes to create rhythm and space. It is a sense of spiritual content which binds it all together by revealing the struggle, as well as the beauty, which exist all around us yet so often times remain unnoticed. Most of my work is painted on location in order to gain a better understanding and appreciation for the diversity of people and culture that exist within our communities, and to reach out a hand of friendship and respect by celebrating that diversity through art.”
Website
http://www.mcnamarapaintings.com
