Miaz Brothers

The sibling duo Roberto and Renato Miaz, aka the Miaz Brothers, turn portraiture on its head with their large-scale, spray paint-on-canvas paintings, whose subjects are presented completely out-of-focus. “We look to provide a visual experience that activates our awareness, that compels the viewer to recognize and re-establish the limits of his or her own perception,” they have said. They call their work the “Antimatter” series, in reference to their atomized, ghostly renderings of subjects, ranging from friends to kawaii (cute) Japanese girls, to philosophers. Both classically trained artists, the brothers honed their approach to portraiture through ten years of experimentation and travel, during which they eschewed the gallery system, presenting their work in unconventional spaces like nightclubs and corporate buildings. Their experiences coalesced into a keen awareness of the transience of life, reflected in the people they paint, always just beyond our reach.