Bart Goldman

Artist Statement

I am drawn to the idea of Cognitive Dissonance, narratives that explains things when common sense fails. My subjects are drawn from historical events and popular culture. Other images are inventions—an invitation to contemplate a mysterious incongruity. One of my favorite questions is, “If this is not a dream, how did we get here?” Coming from the place where the question is more interesting than the answer, I find the freedom to invent scenes depicting desires, fears, and the universal struggle between Freedom and Responsibility.

The female figure is pervasive element in my work, sometimes representing the gender itself but more often, Humanity. My starting point is a love of figure painting and surreal imaging.

I have degrees in Fine Arts, Illustration, and Animation. My pictures never wander too far from “story telling”, if only a snapshot from a larger drama.