Ariel Shallit

Ariel Shallit’s memorable portraits present a unique new way of looking at the famous and the familiar—one that upends our expectations and asks us to genuinely examine the face in front of us. Shallit uses black and white photography for his art, appropriating images of celebrity, pop culture and art history and then transforming them with an intricate mosaic of color and line. With this over-painting technique, these culturally managed images move to another place and can be seen with fresh eyes.

The method that Ariel Shallit uses in his work might have its roots in his background as an award-winning composer. A musician since early childhood, Shallit’s original songs have won Clio Awards and hit the Billboard Top Twenty chart. The trick to composing for advertising, he’s said, was to break down a familiar song in a way that transformed it into something entirely new. In a sense, this is what Shallit accomplishes with his portrait images—by over-painting and subverting the expected, he’s able to express something individual and appealingly authentic about the individual. The familiar face becomes an uncharted terrain that the viewer is invited to explore. If you’d like to see for yourself, we’ve collected a gallery of our favorite Ariel Shallit portraits, above and below. Ariel Shallit’s work is also on view at Jim Kemper Fine Art.