M I C H A E L B E A U C H E M I N
"My paintings portray the power of Americana, steeped in hope, humor and anxiety."----- Michael Beauchemin
View Complete Biography below gallery.
M I
C H A
E L B
E A U C H
E M I N Artist
Statement: My
paintings portray the power of Americana,
steeped in hope, humor and anxiety. Although
inspired by the bright pallet and iconic boldness of the Pop Artists
from the
1960’s, I also incorporate the visual facets found in Cubism, as I find
this
approach to multi-dimensional composition a way to achieve an aggregate
dynamic. The idea is to create a streaming time-continuum,
wherein the image is moving, yet fused from several different viewing
angles. To sharpen the blur of movement,
and ghost images, in my artwork, I mimic the anomalies seen in modern
photography. By drafting the look of frame-cropping,
multiple exposure, hard contrast, and deep solarization, I can obtain
clarity
of the visual stutter. Through
my art, I am forever exploring my childhood growing up in middle class
America. The process of recalling specific persons,
things, or events from ones past, can inevitably become skewed during
the mental
cross-indexing, and the accidental inclusion of unrelated elements,
dream
memories, and tangential data, all becoming mixed into the core memory.
I consider this flawed memory an in-between consciousness,
wherein the outside and the inside world merge into one space. The
mental image obtained from this
in-between consciousness is then sketched on paper, revamped in greater
detail
with color-comp, and then re-rendered on canvas, or other hard surface.
I call this style of art, Rotorealism: outer reality
rotating around an inner reality, Technic: In
order to build texture on the surface, I use acrylic under-painting,
applied
thickly in an impasto fashion, using pallet knives, house-paint brushes,
and
other low-brow apparatus, to shape the paint around the image. Once
the acrylic paint is dried, oil paint is
applied and blended in meticulous fashion with sable brushes,
cotton-balls, and
bare fingers. This helps to refine the
image with rich translucency, detail, and depth of color. Biography: Michael
Beauchemin (b. 1957), of French Canadian descent, was born and raised in
Southwestern Connecticut, one of four children. His
father, Gerard Beauchemin, was also an
artist, and worked as a mechanical draftsman.
Michael Beauchemin continues to paint, and enjoys reading, music,
and
the company of friends in his Southwest Florida
home. Beauchemin has also worked as a
financial advisor, marketing director, and commercial artist. Exhibits: Orange Park
Gallery, Tampa, FL Bill Lowe
Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Clayton Galleries,
Tampa, FL Beauchemin
Gallery, Tampa, FL An American
Renaissance
Traveling Exhibition The Tower
Gallery, Fort Myers, FL The Lowe
Gallery, Atlanta, GA The Polk Museum
of Art,
Lakeland, FL Wet Paint
Gallery, South Miami Beach, FL Galleria
Givanni, Fort Lauderdale, FL Cornell Fine
Arts Museum,
Winter Park, FL Tampa Museum
of Fine Art, Tampa, FL Summer Olympics
Exhibition
Hall, Atlanta, GA New American
Art of the
Southeast Traveling Exhibition Society of the
Four Arts Museum, Palm
Beach, FL Print
Media: Art in America
Magazine Atlanta Magazine Art Now
Magazine Open Studios
Magazine North American
Fine Art
Index 1991 PBS
documentary,
“Artists of the Rising South”, opening reception was re-created for 1992
NBC
Mini Series "Lady Boss", the1996 20th Century Fox
Movie,
"Dream Lover", starring James Spader. In 1996 my paintings were
included in the promotional film, “An American Renaissance”. Education:
Collectors:
Singer/songwriter,
Elton
John; former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson; Holland & Knight of
Tampa; novelist, Jackie Collins; actor, Keanu Reeves; movie actor,
Sylvester
Stallone; R&B singer/songwriter, Tomi Jenkins; comedian & film
actor,
Monti Rock III; Hollywood PR celebrity & journalist, Tara Solomon;
singer/songwriter, Michael Stipe; and movie actor, James Spader.
Media:
Awards:
1975
Rufus Rose Scholarship Award for Excellence in the Fine Arts
The
Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale
Massachusetts College of Art