Anthony Dortch is a trained, educated master of his own upbringing and environment. Dortch spent much of his young life in the heartland of the United States, Ohio. He attended The Colorado Springs School. There, under the influence of one of his early mentors, Judy Campbell, Dortch gave to canvas a theme that can be traced from his earliest days of expression...NO ONE IS ORDINARY.
Reflective of his Midwestern roots, Dortch has culled a style that is influenced by the classics and masters with his lived experience, reflected in a panoply of expressions--both visually and emotionally. This current exhibition of his is reflective of both the whimsy of comic and the depth of personality. Not wanting to be taken too seriously, the artist playfully reveals the many sides of life and experience thru the faces of reality, sometimes masked in uncertainty. His palette is clearly the world of experience. His work comes from a profound desire to match subjects to their feelings, those expressed and those that lie deep within. Hence, each portrait holds a glimmer of Anthony’s dream to paint personalities with broad strokes of acceptance, regardless how stark or bold. Having sold works internationally already, with shows in CO, OH, GA, and D.C. as stepping stones, Dortch’s new exhibit “No One Is Ordinary” is a curtain call to the art world revealing never seen before glimpses in the heart, mind, and soul of the artist.
Written by Bertha Gutenheimer
We all have our own unique hopes and fears, dreams and pains, talents and experiences. Those near and close to us, our family and friends, know where we’ve been, accept what we’ve become and, still, gently allow us to grow. Such growing space provides the unique opportunity for the extraordinary, based upon my time honored belief that ....NO ONE IS ORDINARY.
A combination of psychological intuition, observation and experience has inspired me to craft visual interpretations of peoples’ environments thru the medium of modern technology and materials. My experiences have lead me to create energetic dreamscapes portraying an odd mixture of human composition, emotional experience, and surreal motion that focuses on the idea that people are connected to themselves, their experiences, and to the world in such a way that we are not apart from our reality but a part of it.
The evolution of my work incorporates the use of ink, photography, and my knowledge of comic book art to produce images that focus on a panoply of experience(s) while using a build up of brush strokes and bold colors. Inspiration is often found by looking to past artists like Caravaggio for his use of light and expression, the Furturists for the use of movement, the Impressionists for the use of color and brush strokes, and Bennett for his use of color and detail to transform portraiture to a vibrant array of color.
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