Current Exhibition
Paul Pratchenko| New Paintings
Some New Pictures in the Presence of Their Predecessors
September 2 – October 2, 2010
Reception: Saturday, September 11, 2010, 3:00 - 5:00 PM
Artist Biography

Paul Pratchenko's paintings merge the real with the fantastical, by incorporating dreamlike phenomena into his everyday scenes. These elements operate as a defense against habitual, predictable, predestined and formal perceptions. Readily recognizable images are juxtaposed with traces of the surprising and unfamiliar.

Of his work, Pratchenko writes:
... I also hope, like the Surrealists in the earlier part of last century, to infuse a bit of the marvelous and fantastic into the world. The themes of these works are often at least dualistic and might combine, for instance, cartoon, photographic and invented conventions within a single work.

Pratchenko is fundamentally concerned with the relationship between appearance and reality, as informed by how we see, think about, experience and remember the world.

Paul Pratchenko was Professor of Art, Painting, and Drawing at San Francisco State University for thirty years, beginning in 1978. His work appears in many public and private collections.

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