© Mica Pillemer 2009-2023
I am very proud to note that my painting “Lockdown Self-Portrait” was in an exhibition and auction at Sotheby’s in New York City. It was part of the 21st Century Realism Art Renewal Center Salon Exhibition which ran from the 14th to the 24th of July 2023. Thank you to everyone for coming out to the event.
Wider gallery view
A little closer in.
The info cards by the painting.
I have just finished a portrait of the award winning journalist John Silvester. It was an incredible experience made somewhat unnerving as John decided to interview me while I painted him. He came to my studio for a number of sittings and to be frank I would have rather just listened to him tell me stories. A truly intriguing sitter and a great guy. As an award winning journalist and co author of the Underbelly series they had to feature in the image. John trains at boxing recreationally, a practice he began with his son, and when you go to the gym the walls are plastered with articles. This made it the perfect setting for the work. It helps that so much of John’s subjects are the underworld, a topic suited to the boxing arena. We use articles that John considers some of his most important and some of the ones that he is most proud of. I am very proud of this painting and grateful to have had the opportunity to make it. John turned the interview into an article for The Age and a podcast for Naked City. Here is the link to the article.
And the podcast.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/naked-city/id1501054880?i=1000491638061
Unfortunately due to COVID restrictions we are going to have to put all classes at MARA on hold. Hopefully we will be able to open soon in a safe and socially distanced way.
MARA is open
Read MoreI will be speaking at the 2019 TRAC conference in Ventura California. My topic will be Representation and Imagination. My segment will take place at 10:30 am on Wednesday the 3rd of April. Looking forward to meeting everyone there and having some great discussions about representational art.
Here is a link to the website for the Conference
My painting Self Portrait, In The Yard was selected as a finalist for the 2018 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize. Tania and I went to Sydney for the announcement and opening of the gallery. Despite the result we had a great time, and met some fantastic people. There is an article about the exhibition here where I get a little mention near the end. The painting was placed in a prominent spot easily visible when you walk into the gallery at Juniper Hall. Looking forward to giving it another go next year.
Juniper Hall
I got a chance to catch up with my old friend Kevin Chen recently when I was in LA. It had been a while since we last hung out and it was really great to spend time together. Kevin and I met way back in the summer of 96 at Associates in Art, the industry and artistic hub created by the late Mark Westermoe. Now Kevin has a school he built on his own, carrying on the legacy of Associates. It's called the Concept Design Academy and wow! If you are in LA and looking for a place to learn, this is it! Kevin gave us a tour and it was really impressive. What an exciting place to be. On the walls of CDA you can see not only instructor artwork but also some of the old Watkiss murals from Associates.
Looking at an old demo from back in the Associates in Art days. Those drawings in the background are Kevin's
One part of the murals John Watkiss made for Associates in Art
One of the studios in Kevin's school. You can see some instructor demos on the wall to the left.
Another Watkiss painting.
I was invited to take part in an exhibition at the Florence Academy of Art US called “12x12, A Portrait Exhibition”. All the artists were asked to produce head studies that were 12x12 inches in size. Looking at the paintings on the wall at Mana Contemporary gave an incredible glimpse into the diversity of approaches to head drawing and painting. It was an honor to be on the wall with so many other fantastic artists. If you are in the New York area and have an interest in figurative work this is a unique experience that can’t be replicated at any other gallery exhibition.
