Magical (Sur)realism

Craig McDaniel's paintings thread a delicate together a trio of art -isms: realism, surrealism and magical realism. As those three movements come together, McDaniel's focus narrows into the magic of everyday life.

- CRAIG MCDANIEL

"I fall into those everyday realms quite naturally. There is a resonance there for me," he says, adding that he keys into magical properties that swirl around everyone. "The magical realism is there, but I don't paint that heightened sense of realism, or that surreal side of the equation. I paint a vision that is a little bit unreal, but it is an everyday reality. It's a moment in life, one that can look at the beauty, joy and, yes, magic, that is all around us."

McDaniel's newest works will be part of a solo show opening November 1 at RJD Gallery in Romeo, Michigan. The show is titled Enchantment: The Magical Worlds of Craig McDaniel and it will feature as many as nine new pieces.

The artist presently lives in Indianapolis, but says he's called dozens of places homeCalifornia, Texas, Rhode Island, Maryland, Italy-since his dad was in the U.S. Navy. When he started to get into art, his interests were like his homes, they bounced around in new directions, some far away from the previous one. "My works have been built out of the later modernists: Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, Mary Cassatt, Max Beckman," he says. When told his landscapes have a Charles Burchfield feel to them, McDaniel agrees. "I hadn't considered that, but I can see it. I also love looking at the work of Francis Bacon, but my work looks nothing like his at all. I'm a nerd for painting and I love looking at other artists' works and seeing how they develop their forms and compositions."