Artwork copyright Michael Dal Cerro. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Wildlife, 2002

Michael Dal Cerro
American (born 1953)

Location: Washington Elementary School, Vancouver

About the Artwork

Wildlife is a complex and detailed print by artist Michael Dal Cerro. It is part of a series of works that use Times Square in New York City as a metaphor for consumer culture. The dream-like composition features different characters from pop culture and advertising. The artist notes, “The chaotic arrangement of ubiquitous billboards in Times Square on roof tops and hanging from the sides and facades of buildings present a readymade collage. The unexpected juxtapositions of images pictured on billboards are an example of how reality can be more bizarre than imagination.”

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Vancouver Public Schools.

About the Artist

New Jersey-based artist Michael Dal Cerro utilizes painting, printmaking and digital media to create elaborately imagined compositions. Interested in the invention of forms and visual language, his works play with conventional perspective and figuration. Dal Cerro lived in Seattle, Washington between 1988 and 1993. Many of his artworks from that period depict imagery of the Pacific Northwest. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Northern Illinois University in 1975.