MICHAEL DE BRITO
	FOREWORD At 27 years old Michael De Brito embodies all that is right in the art world today. He is a highly trained, young painter whose extraordinary skills are equally matched by his ambition to advance representational art to the next level. As realism has regained its status among the critics as well as the collectors, it will take an artist of Mr. De Brito's talents to show us where the genre is headed. This, his first one-man exhibition, is indeed a milestone event, one that De Brito has prepared for through diligent studies and one that has been heralded by the numerous awards and accolades already bestowed upon him. Michael De Brito does not need to venture much farther than his grandmother's kitchen to find a world of inspiration. Though she is small in stature, this indomitable woman is a reoccurring and formidable presence in many of his paintings. She is the general of her domain and the matriarch of a large close knit family. Simply put, life happens in her kitchen, surrounded by the overlapping patterns of fabrics and food. Embellishing her realm are the bits and pieces of treasure she has collected over decades. Now they serve to frame the faces we see gathered at her table. De Brito has painted them directly and unadorned, and though they are strangers to us, they seem completely familiar. The aunt, the uncle, the neighbor; they are eerily interchangeable with so many people we have known. What De Brito paints is not a scene of life but an experience that we can easily readjust to spark our own memories. The vibrancy in his brushwork enlivens each small detail until our senses can almost feel the warmth of the room or smell the stew simmering on the stove. It is not idealized or romanticized or suggesting of a narrative. It is life…honest, immediate and intimate. To communicate this essence is arguably De Brito's greatest gift. I think we finally have come to realize that good art does not have to shock, but it is good to be jolted into recognition. Through those he paints, De Brito gives us glimpses of ourselves both alone and in the context of our coming together. And it is with family and friends perhaps we are most vulnerable, open and accessible. The next "new thing" has been so much a part of our culture, but Michael De Brito is evidence that the new thing may be surprisingly near.
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