Ross’s Family Portrait 2021

This is Michael Cheval’s painting, Ross’s Family Portrait, and what strikes me is how he’s diving deep into dream logic here. Cheval layers the scene with theatrical details; this regal looking couple in the foreground, the man with the bouquet, and the woman with the mirror, they're posed in front of a maze, and behind, up in the sky, are figures that seem to be floating on clouds. The way the scene is painted gives it that hyper-real feel, as if each element is rendered in such detail it could be mistaken for reality. Take for example, the woman’s purple dress, with its glossy texture, it looks like it could rustle. And there's the parrot in the frame behind them, these kinds of elements create this feeling that the painting is a stage set for a play. Cheval reminds me of Magritte, both artists find ways to inject humour, surprise and the unexpected into the art form, and I love that, I love how a painting can be a conversation with the surreal.