Cody Pryseski is a Baltimore-based
artist specializing in portrait and
figurative oil paintings. He takes a
humanist approach to painting,
believing in the value of classical,
traditional training and techniques.
Inspiration is key, but then you have
to put in the work. His attention to
detail and quality compels him to
continually re-work his canvases,
until he achieves the right mood.
The goal is to capture the personality,
even the psychology, of his subject.
Willem de Kooning said, “Flesh is the
reason why oil painting was invented.”
Pryseski uses the impasto technique,
thickly layering his figures with oil
paint. This brings additional texture to the
work, allowing for the artist to manipulate
the play of light and rendering
the figure more expressive. Pryseski
is inspired by Stephen Conroy, Phillip
Pearlstein, and Chuck Close (whom he
met when he accidentally stumbled
into Close’s SoHo gallery). But his work
is most strongly influenced by Lucien
Freud. Cody saw Freud’s’ first U.S. show
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
1993. The well-worn brochure from
that show remains in his studio today,
always close at hand for inspiration.
Cody grew up in Baltimore, MD. He
graduated from MICA in 1996 with a
degree in painting and drawing and
maintains a studio in the Canton neighborhood of Baltimore.