Tim Okamura Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1968 -

Tim Okamura(born 1968 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) is a contemporary Canadian painter known for his depiction of African-Americanand minority subjects in urbansettings, and his combination of graffitiand realism. His work has been featured in several major motion pictures and in London's National Portrait Gallery.

He was also one of several artists to be shortlisted in 2006 for a proposed portrait of Queen Elizabeth.Urban life and hip-hophas influenced not only Okamura’s subject matter in his paintings, but some of itsmusical concepts –sampling, combiningnew beats and classic grooves

This also affected his approach to image-making: sampling excerpts from art history and world mythology, blending classical techniques of oil paintingwith the spontaneity of spray paintedgraffiti, combining the academic “realism” of his portrait and figure paintingwith modern graphics and contemporary urban environments.

“I continue to be inspired simultaneously by the disparate visual language of Rembrandt’s dark portraits, the intense contemplation of Antonio Lopez Garcia, and “wild-style” graffiti writers”. "...apainter who does portraits with tumultuous graffiti backgrounds....a hip-hop painter".Nicholls,Liz "Tim Okamura, Artis