By
Tom Blood
Piece description from the artist
My first painting of 2025 was inspired by Magritte's "L'usage de la parole" painting. Seeing it for some reason made me think of using an outline shape of the man in the bowler hat as a target. My wife suggested I put it on an easel, and what you see here is the result. I wanted the target to be in an outdoor shooting range. The almost impressionistic feel of the background is in stark contrast to the tight lines of the easel and the actual target. By placing the target on an easel, I've helped blur the line between creation and destruction. The painting opens up a dialogue about the nature of art itself – what it means to be the subject of scrutiny or to be 'targeted' within artistic discourse.
Tom Blood is a self-taught, modern-day surrealist, heavily influenced by his all-time favourite artist, Rene Magritte. Some of his early works include two crowd favorites – "Bobby Hull" which was created using a palette knife and "The Three Stooges" which was created using three primary colors. Since that time, Tom has pursued a more surrealistic path. He paints ideas. His goal is to paint the impossible, or at least, the highly improbable. With his paintings, viewers can always tell what's going on, not necessarily knowing why. He wants his paintings to tell stories that make people think, or bring a smile. His work has won numerous awards locally and he has had a number of solo shows in the St. Louis, Missouri area where he was born and raised.
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