Fred Tomasell

Fred Tomaselli is a contemporary American painter, acclaimed for his collaged works incorporating unconventional materials and depicting surreal scenes. His resin-coated paintings on wood panel feature layers of photographic cutouts placed into winding patterns, often alongside illicit substances such as pills—prescription and otherwise—and hallucinogenic plants and herbs. “Art is really about perception,” he once quipped, “and mine have been changed through visiting other realities.” The resulting works present the viewer with a fantastic, alien landscape, populated with ideas and images sourced from Tomaselli's personal life experience and influence by the AIDS crisis. Born in Santa Monica, CA in 1956, he went on to study at the California State University in Fullerton. His paintings have been met with widespread recognition, notably with his inclusion in the 2004 Whitney Biennial and exhibitions at the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, D.C, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and White Cube in London. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.