Artist Talk: Online With John Tarahteef

"I abandoned illustrating the world in favor of following some mysterious subtext that emerges as the painting develops.  I am lead by quirky impulses to exaggerate color, or play with scale, in a way which often undermines the realism of the image, but ultimately leads to discoveries as the painting finds new improbable resolutions of form and content."  

- John Tarahteeff

John Tarahteeff is known for classically rendered compositions that challenge viewers' perceptions through plays of scale, unusual lighting, and the underlying psychological tension between innocence and knowledge. He pushes the boundaries of what is possible in figurative painting with a masterful use of acrylic on canvas. Tarahteeff creates set dramas that play out in deep undercurrents of the imagination. In his paintings, the moment is defined more by multiple potential meanings than by any plausible narrative. His situations are unresolved and suspended mid-action. John Tarahteeff was born in 1972 and raised in Santa Clara, California. He studied art at the University of California at Davis and continues to live in Northern California. His paintings have been featured on the cover of American Art Collector Magazine, and his work is in countless private collections. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions and has been represented by Nüart Gallery for over a decade.