Astronaut's Wife, acrylic on panel

Winnipeg-based artist Andrew Valko creates stunning hyper-realistic paintings of drive in movies and scenes from hotels. His paintings carry with them a sense of high-class isolation and Hollywood idolatry.

I really enjoy the look of the artist’s drive-in paintings, with the stark contrast between the close-up portraits of female stars, and the cars, pictured in the half-darkness of twilight, with shadowy figures sometimes visible inside, watching the film. The lack of border on the movie screens makes these works look almost like bizarre collages at first glance.

Gone, acrylic on panel

Valko has also done series of paintings and drawings featuring subject matter such as people and scenes from the interiors of motel rooms, and UFOs. All of these works share a similar brooding, slighter sinister undertone that makes me really interested in the story behind each image. The glossy cars and anonymity of his hotel rooms are reminiscent of other artists painting scenes of urban sprawl. 

Day Break, acrylic on panel