Rick Midler

Little Swimmer, 20”x30”

Entering Neverywhere, 48”x48”

Artist Statement
This series of oils on canvas and wood panels explores Desire. It examines how the things we lust after gain our interest and how our imaginations process them. Color, movement and light are tools Life uses to attract attention. Emotions run through the landscapes in the form of teardrops. Colorful balls are planets, meteors, and objects to be collected. Here, in the pseudo-sexual circus-world of Neverywhere, one-eyed flowers, myopic slugbunnies and painted women are both the main attractions and the audience as they passively experience the world from the safest place of all – inside their own shells.

Artist Bio
Rick Midler’s paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries throughout the United States, including the Brooklyn Artists Gym,
The OmniGallery at the UBS Building, The Art Vanguard Gallery and the Premiere Wall at Crew Cuts Space.

In addition, his work is in private and corporate collections, including those of Big Foote Music, Triple Nine Entertainment and Audio Alchemy in Warwick, NY.

Among various other awards, Mr. Midler received an Emmy for a short film which appeared on HBO and honors at The London International Festival. His work as been published in Communication Arts, Creativity Magazine, The One Show Annual and The New York Times.

His artwork and creative direction helped bring the animated M&M’s characters to life. Throughout his commercial career he worked for companies such as FedEx, Pizza Hut and AT&T. Midler also worked with top names in the entertainment business, such as Spike Lee, John Turturro, Ashton Kutcher, Fran Drescher, Roseanne, Megan Mullally, Jack Palance, Stanley Tucci, Elijah Wood, Forest Whitaker and Sydney Pollack.

Rick Midler was born in Clifton, NJ in 1966. He received a B.S. in Visual Communications from University of Delaware in 1988. He currently lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn with his wife Samara and son Jude The Dude.

Website
http://www.RickMidler.net