Michael Hussar is an American

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

from

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. He was trained at the

Art Center College of Design The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California. It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...

in Pasadena, CA.

Early life

Hussar was born 1964 in Southern California. He first took interest in art because of his father whom he would watch paint and occasionally work alongside him. He began painting when he was 6 years old, although he had been drawing before that. He later studied at the

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

where he taught painting afterwards. He was trained by painters Richard Bunkall, Dwight Harmon, and Judy Crook; and draftsmen Harry Carmean and

Burne Hogarth Burne Hogarth (born Spinoza Bernard Ginsburg, December 25, 1911 – January 28, 1996) was an American artist and educator, best known for his work on the ''Tarzan (comics), Tarzan'' newspaper comic strip and his series of anatomy books for artis ...

. Later on, he taught Portraiture and Head Painting for almost 10 years at ArtCenter and continues to teach portrait painting workshops in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Career

Hussar is known best for his oil paintings. Taking influences from the work of the old masters, he uses a combination of rococo, baroque and other classical styles combined with contemporary subject matter. Instead of canvas, Hussar prefers to work on

gesso A restored gesso panel representing St. Martin of Tours, from St. Michael and All Angels Church, Lyndhurst, Hampshire Gesso (; 'chalk', from the , from ), also known as "glue gesso" or "Italian gesso", is a white paint mixture used to coat rigi ...

ed wood panels to create paintings, as opposed to a surface mixing technique. He prefers to work from dark value, to light, focusing on atmosphere before moving to detail. His paintings are provocative and shocking from certain angles. He plays around with religious codes, in a universe combining the fantastic and the horrific. In 2008 Hussar's painting, ''Hans Memling'' was featured in the group show ''In the Land of Retinal Delights: The Juxtapoz Factor'' that took place at the

Laguna Art Museum The Laguna Art Museum (LAM) is a museum located in Laguna Beach, California, on Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway. LAM exclusively features California art and is the oldest cultural institution in the area. It has been kno ...

from June 22 - October 5, 2008. His clients include

Kat Von D Katherine von Drachenberg (born March 8, 1982), known professionally as Kat Von D, is a Mexican-born American tattoo artist, television personality, entrepreneur and recording artist. She is best known for her work as a tattoo artist on the TLC ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, Warren Beaty,

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...

and

Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...

. Hussar's work is mainly exhibited in the US. One of his works can also be found in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Personal life

Hussar lives in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Publications

*Featured in ''Hi Fructose Magazine'' Volume 12 *Featured in ''

Juxtapoz ''Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine'' (pronounced ''JUX-tah-pose'') is a magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and art collectors including Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (a.k.a. Craig Stecyk), Greg Escalante, and Eric ...

'' magazine, Sept/Oct 2005 #58

Solo exhibitions

*''Red Red Robin'', Nov 11 - Dec 10, 2006, Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery in Pasadena, CA *''Barocca'', Dec 5-28, 2003,

La Luz de Jesus La Luz de Jesus Gallery is a art museum, commercial art gallery located in Los Angeles, California. It is closely associated with the Lowbrow (art movement), Lowbrow Art Movement, Kustom Kulture, and pop surrealism. It is located on the top floo ...

*''Pretty Pink Spade'', Nov 1 - Dec 1, 2002,

References

External links

Michael Hussar's Official Website
* http://beinart.org/artists/michael-hussar/ * http://www.birdbathpublishing.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussar, Michael 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists Living people American male painters Year of birth missing (living people)