We’ve been fans of Brooklyn-based painter and street artist Dan Witz for a while now, so we’re always excited when someone points out some of his work. We spotted Nightscapes over at Faith is Torment, and it seemed sort of perfect for the weekend before Christmas, that notoriously light-filled holiday. After all, these nearly photorealistic paintings look like gritty beacons in the dark of modernity. As Witz explains: “I’d become interested in different old master techniques used to paint light. It was amazing to me how they could not just simulate light in paintings, but actually create it. Their canvasses glow, some even seem to produce light. In older western religious painting, this light made manifest is usually a metaphor for spiritual revelation. I want to use this, but to supplant the piety with my own 21st century anxiety.” Click through to see a few of our favorites from the series, and then head here to check out the rest.
Image Credit: Dan Witz
Image Credit: Dan Witz
Image Credit: Dan Witz
Image Credit: Dan Witz
Image Credit: Dan Witz
Image Credit: Dan Witz
Image Credit: Dan Witz
Image Credit: Dan Witz
Image Credit: Dan Witz
Image Credit: Dan Witz