PhD MFA
California Lutheran University
Throwing Down the Gauntlet
Challenges facing 21st Century representational artists.
Having passed through the furnace of the 20th Century, representational art has emerged triumphant and is finding its proper place in the emergent art world after postmodernism. However, representational artists continue to find difficulty in gaining attention and respect for their work, despite its technical excellence.
In this paper I will explore possible directions for representational art in the coming decade, discuss creativity using the ideas of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and consider the importance of imagination.
About Michael
Michael Pearce is a popular and influential leader of the international representational art community. His “Secret Paintings” exhibit is currently on a tour of the United States. In addition to being an accomplished painter he is author of “Art in the Age of Emergence,” a book describing the relationship of representational art to the philosophy of emergence.
In 2012 he co-founded The Representational Art Conference, bringing artistic heavy-hitters such as Odd Nerdrum and Roger Scruton to California to meet their American peers. He is an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University.