Michael Hilsman's work integrates and expands upon the formats of classical painting, in particular the genres of portraiture and still life. Through incorporating elements at once ambiguous and curiously emblematic—plants, shells, and feathers, pieces of clothing, body parts—Hilsman has developed a visual vocabulary that oscillates between naturalism and expressionism. His paintings hint at the artistic exploration of the absurd, the latent spirituality of things, and the relationship between the physical and metaphysical. Often inscribed with words or titles on the picture plane, his compositions offer quasi–theatrical backdrops for objects and figures in states of dissolution and fragmentation, either on the brink of disappearance or formed anew.
Michael Hilsman
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Michael Hilsman, M. With Smoke in Eyes, 2020
oil on linen
243.8 x 162.6 cm
96 x 64 in -
Michael Hilsman, M. With Citrus I, 2020
Oil on linen
27.9 x 35.6 cm
11 x 14 in -
Michael Hilsman, ‘M.’ With Idioms (Tooth and Nail), 2018
Oil on linen
162,6 x 243,8 x 4,4 cm
64 x 96 x 1 3/4 inches -
Michael Hilsman, Ten (Pool Picture), 2018
Oil on linen
243,8 x 162,6 x 4,4 cm
96 x 64 x 1 3/4 inches -
Michael Hilsman, Blue Year, 2018
Oil on linen
10 x 8 in
25,4 x 20,3 cm -
Michael Hilsman, Yellow Ear, 2018
Oil on linen
25,4 x 20,3 cm
10 x 8 inches -
Michael Hilsman, Grapefruit, Lemon, Knife, Letter, Tomatoes, Glass of Water, 2018
Oil on linen
20,3 x 25,4 cm
8 x 10 inches -
Michael Hilsman, Grapefruit, Lemon, Tooth, Letter, Glass of Water, 2018
Oil on linen
20,3 x 25,4 cm
8 x 10 inches -
Michael Hilsman, 'M.' With Glass of Water, 2018
‘M.’ With Glass of Water, 2018
Oil on linen
243,8 x 162,6 cm
96 x 64 inches -
Michael Hilsman, Ocean Picture II, 2018
Oil on linen
243,8 x 162,6 cm
96 x 64 inches -
Michael Hilsman, Ocean Picture I, 2018
Oil on linen
243,8 x 162,6 cm
96 x 64 inches -
Michael Hilsman, ‘M.’ With Laundry, 2018
Oil on linen, 96 x 64 inches | 243,8 x 162,6 cm