Apotheoun (Tom Livezey at Eleven)

[Tom Edgerton]

Garth--

As you know, it's one of my favorites.

One thing that critics tag as "photorealistic" is a certain fidelity to realistic drawing, but that term misses the mark for me here. I've always seen "photorealism" as having a certain randomness or "found" quality to the imagery, plus a fairly non-discerning approach to edges and detail. This painting has been refined through a couple of permutations to a completely non-random level of design--there is an abstract, pared-down underpinning to it that's anything but "found." And the nuance of edges really asserts when one sees the original painting. And the color captures that hot summer sun in a way that photographic color wouldn't, to my mind. Just my opinion.

It may have started with photography, but it's been refined way beyond that by now.

Congrats on the recognition!