Thomas Arvid
Thomas Arvid was born and raised in Detroit. Although interested in painting, he did not consider it to be a practical career—“being an artist is the last thing your parents want you to do,” he remarks—and he worked as a sign painter, printer, and fashion photographer. On a 1992 trip to Europe he was inspired by the sight of painters working in the cafes and along the streets. On returning home he began to paint still lives, often choosing red objects for the striking quality of that color.
He soon discovered the aesthetic potential of his signature subject: wine. The deep red of the liquids and the play of light across glass surfaces make for fascinating visual compositions, but there is also an emotional component to these hugely popular images: “With my paintings, there is never a complete subject: everything is interrupted,” he writes. “Wine is a great subject to do this because it is familiar. You know it, so your mind fills in the composition with your own experience. It becomes the viewer’s painting too.”
