Bert Monroy creates a very unique and, process oriented type of work. He has a particular passion of the digital world, his work is inspiring. The photo-real paintings, are extremely detailed with a mind blowing depth of field. Every single object in his composition is made from scratch, in Photoshop, or Illustrator. One can see detailed in the leaves of far away trees, dust, reflections, rust, screws...etc. He relies his work flow in photographs.
As a photo-realist painter, I have often been asked why I don’t just take a photograph. Good question, when you consider my paintings look like photographs. Well, for one thing, I’m not a photographer. To me, it is not the destination that is important—it is the journey.
The incredible challenge of recreating reality is my motivation. —Bert Monroy
I think that it is very interesting that he doesn't consider himself a photographer, yet he has such a active relationship with the medium. He relies in photographs to achieve a hyper-real photographic painting. As he says, what it is important for him is the "journey", not the destination. That is why in my opinion, the artist is very much process oriented. He bases his passion for art in the actual process of making it, as opposed to the final product.
Good. I think your comment about his closeness to the photographic medium is really important, especially when you consider the "dance" the two media have been engaged in for some time. He's sort of like a photo-realist painter (e.g. Richard Estes) who pushes pixels rather than paint. Its also interesting how his work very closely resembles how a lens renders a sense of space. My next question is what you think of the work beyond the obvious technical wizardry? Subject matter? Concepts? Themes? What is the artist communicating?
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