Michael Carson, “Wallflower”, Oil on Canvas, 2014

Minneapolis based artist Michael Carson captures the fleeting moments of stylish modern day people. While there is a sense of immediacy in painting them, there is also a timelessness in their 40s and 90s-esque glamour. His subject’s fashion is one of the ways that Carson injects himself into his works; patterns in clothing and the interiors of rooms are particularly prevalent, reflecting his interests in design and fashion.

His figures are lounging in bars, clubs, backstage fashion shows, and dance studios, earning the artist comparisons to French painter Edgar Degas. Carson, however, likes to think of himself as a figurative painter more than an impressionist.