"I didn't choose art. I was born into it." – Michael Victor Troutman
"Amber" by Michael Victor Troutman, 6x6in, acrylic on canvas (2017), $25 | BUY NOW
Michael Victor Troutman claims that his work contains no “pretentious message,” and that he just hopes to provoke an individual emotional response in each individual viewer. His unorthodox use of color and a deliberately unsophisticated approach to mark making give us paintings that might be more accessible to a broader audience for exactly their lack of “airs.” There is skill in the line work but a liberating lack of concern for what is academically appropriate in compositional choices.
Troutman’s work is reminiscent of mid-20th century art that included connotations from the past. “Amber” is quick and spontaneous, but cannot help but recall Andy Warhol’s portrait of Marilyn Monroe, while the sense of decadence with a hint of depravity found in “Cessation” seems to cite Toulouse-Lautrec as a part of its ancestry.
"Cessation" by Michael Victor Troutman, 24x30in, acrylic gesso varnish on canvas (2016), $123 | BUY NOW
The artist is self-taught and has been exhibiting since the late 1990s. He primarily paints portraits but has experience with other mediums such as sculpture, found art, collages, drawings and the written word. He credits much of his artistic talent to his family, “especially, my father, Victor, & my brother, Aaron. Many other relatives—including my mother, who worked in the Culinary Arts & created edible sculptures, etc., and my sister, who worked in crafts & home décor, fabric/fashion, etc., & and uncles, grandparents, etc. who made swank furniture and kinetic art—are also influences/inspirations to my creativity.”
"A Self Portrait" by Michael Victor Troutman, 24.5 x 18.5 in, acrylic on canvas (2012)
“I took advantage of the situation and used the tools, instruments & materials I found in my vicinity. Art is not a science, thus I did not continue formal training. Everyone is born an artist, but somewhere along the line most children morph into adults—they're too self-critical and judgmental.”
When Troutman expresses his aesthetic he tends to the poetical:
Some cold souls see art as an excessive luxury; one of them even said to me that “art is one thing that the world could do without.”
But to that bastard, I reply, I retort that never has the world done without art.
Art is ancient and as continuous as circles.
I find that when something “does not matter” is when it/something matters the most
because it's done as a thing/act in itself,
alone, clean & pure
& done because it needed or wanted to be done
& it was not done to seek rewards in heaven
& it was not done to evade punishment in hell;
it was done because it was the R—> thing to do regardless of the consequences/effects.
"TRS 3.0" by Michael victor Troutman, 20x24in, acrylic gesso varnish on canvas (2015), $138 | BUY NOW
ART is about AIM:
Attention
Influence
Manipulation
- so please let me con you. Feel! ENJOY!
Troutman’s latest exhibition started March 3 at Open Community Arts Center in Louisville.
Hometown: DePauw, Indiana
Age: 28
Education: BA, Spanish; BA, Political Science & Minor in International Studies w/ concentration in Latin America (& a brief period of graduate school MAT Spanish program)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TroutmanArt
"Girl Stepping Out of Shadow" by Michael Victor Troutman, 16x20in, acrylic on canvas (2012), $169 | BUY NOW
"Private Eye" by Michael victor Troutman, 24x30in, acrylic varnish on canvas (2015), $222 | BUY NOW
Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.
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