OAKLAND, Calif. (PRWEB) January 30, 2023
Bold contemporary painter Michael Robinson, a rising star of California’s art scene, has launched a new Web-based contest to give away a high-gloss metal print of one of his iconic images.
Titled “In The Belly Of The Beast,” the painting has become wildly popular on Instagram, where it has received hundreds of likes and comments. Robinson, a former journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee, sold the original acrylic on canvas last June to a Bay Area collector who owns several Salvador Dali lithographs.
“This piece has become very popular on Instagram in part because it's a bit of a Rorschach test,” Robinson says. “It’s a whimsical piece that has been described as Kandinsky meets Miro.”
The painting showcases a main character that could be interpreted as a sea creature, an alien or a surrealistic dog that is bearing its teeth in what could be viewed as either an aggressive posture or a giant smile.
In turn, the head appears to be in two sections with a giant spike in the middle. In the upper section of the body, we see two faces that seem to represent both human ambivalence and hope.
And in the lower half, there’s what some might consider an impressionistic hand or a giant sea coral as viewed from outer space. To the right of that, the viewer sees a red vase that has feminine features, possibly symbolizing Mother Earth.
To say that Robinson, 66, has followed a circuitous path to becoming a cutting-edge contemporary painter is an understatement.
Before getting into the visual arts at age 60, he spent years as a Bay Area rock and blues musician, releasing four CDs and playing more than 100 live shows. He’s been featured in more than a dozen California newspapers as well as in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
The high-gloss metal print of In the Belly Of The Beast, comes ready to hang. To enter, contestants simply need to input their email address on the contest page before midnight on Feb. 3.
A self-described privacy freak, Robinson notes his website does not share any user data with any parties and that those entering the contest can unsubscribe at any time.