Michael Tole

Diana Contemplating the Sublimity of the Paleo Diet

2018

A Death of Sardanapalus is a revisionist history in which I reimagine the fall of the last Assyrian king, famously portrayed by Delacroix. In my reimagining, far from being passive victims, Sardanapalus’s concubines are about to perform a coup de gras, without him suspecting a thing. Full title is 'A Coalition of Willing Goddesses Topples Mars, Commonly Known as A Death of Sardanapalus' In my current work, The Revisionist Histories, I am writing letters to art history, literature, and mythology in an attempt to redress past wrongs, re-draw archetypes, and reflect the social changes that have reshaped our society over the past century. As part of this agenda, I explore the evolution of gender norms, power dynamics, and representation within Western visual culture and what this implies for the negotiation between pleasure, justice, and our culturally specific discourse on beauty. Oddly enough, this work is inspired in part by my pre-teen daughters’ growing musical interests which exposed me for the first time to the world of music videos (I had a sheltered childhood as my parents couldn’t afford cable TV). My daughters are primarily interested in pop divas...

Michael Tole is a figurative painter currently living in Tempe, AZ with his wife and daughters. A Texas native, most of his 20 year long career was spent in Dallas. After relocating to Tempe, his work experienced a significant shift from photo-based paintings of retail interiors to fantastical figurative inventions based on pop culture imagery he has encountered via his two daughters’ taste in music videos, and his proximity to Southern California and it’s particular brand of Disney-esque hedonism. Mr. Tole’s career includes shows in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and Miami. His work has been reviewed in Art Forum International...

Michael Tole is a figurative painter currently living in Tempe, AZ with his wife and daughters. A Texas native, most of his 20 year long career was spent in Dallas. After relocating to Tempe, his work experienced a significant shift from photo-based paintings of retail interiors to fantastical figurative inventions based on pop culture imagery he has encountered via his two daughters’ taste in music videos, and his proximity to Southern California and it’s particular brand of Disney-esque hedonism. Mr. Tole’s career includes shows in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and Miami. His work has been reviewed in Art Forum International...

Michael Tole is a figurative painter currently living in Tempe, AZ with his wife and daughters. A Texas native, most of his 20 year long career was spent...

Mascara is an oil painting on canvas with a canvas size of 25 x 35 inches, signed 'felix mas' lower left, and framed in a Spanish-style, closed-corner, black and gold frame. Felix M...

‘Destination London’ is a stunning recent oil painting by Award Winning artist Jo Holdsworth. Inspired by the view over Westminster Bridge towards Big Ben and Portcullis House, this ...

Lost in the City is a stunning oil on canvas work by award winning artist Jo Holdsworth. Jo often adopts a modernist approach to form and elongated reflected figures in her work and...

"Per aspera ad astra" is Latin for "through difficulty to the stars." A friend asked me to read a religious text. The opening chapter talked about "God's enemies." I thought, God has...