Fred Tomaselli

Fred Tomaselli

         Fred Tomaselli is fine artist who was born in Santa Monica, California, 1956. His style usually involves collage, painting, and/or glazing. His artwork is always highly detailed and put on big wood panels. Fred Tomaselli uses a wide verity of materials that vary tremendously. He often found using consciousness-altering plants and pills. "I want people to get lost in the work," he says. “ I want people to get lost in the work. I want to seduce people into it and I want people to escape inside the world of the work. In that way the work is pre-Modernist. I throw all of my obsessions and loves into the work, and I try not to be too embarrassed about any of it. I love nature, I love gardening, I love watching birds, and all of that gets into the work. I just try to be true to who I am and make the work I want to see. I don’t have a radical agenda" (1)

         I love how he talks about his artwork and very impressed with his interviews. They are very inspiring. He shares how he had doubts about his work but stood up for what he wanted to do and found a way to present it in interesting way. He says that he almost have no control over his work, he just let's his mind wonder and hopes that his art communicates to people. That is something every artists desires: to be able to express thoughts and first of all to fulfill his/her own soul. 

         His artwork also visually caught my attention right away. I can see a clear reference to drugs and how they make one see and feel. The color combinations and their chaotic arrangement on the canvas are so attractive for the eyes. I also like very much his choice of subject matter. His work looks very intuitive and spontaneous. He often does the nature or people but he choses to show it in a very simple way so that the most attention is concentrated on it's  colors and texture. I like Fred's artwork very much because find his work 'easy' to 'digest', very playful. I also appreciate looking at the unusual materials he chooses to use, it is very inspiring. 

works cited:

1. http://www.philiptaaffe.info/Interviews_Statements/Tomaselli-Smith-Taaffe.php