by Michael Abatemarco 

The realist paintings of Vincent Figliola, an award-winning former art director and creative advertising director, are tinged with a touch of the surreal. His Tchaikovsky's Sky, for instance, depicts a godlike conductor held aloft by clouds, and in one of his self-portraits, a ballerina in miniature dances gracefully on the tip of an upraised finger. Many of his narrative paintings are reflections on contemporary themes and issues such as immigration; he depicts migrant families on perilous border crossings through harsh desert landscapes.

He has yet to sell a single painting from his Border Crossing series. "I'm glad I did it," he told Pasatiempo. "I thought it had to be done. In the old days, painters painted issues. They painted about war. They painted about decapitations. I felt free to do it, but there were a lot of roadblocks: 'We love the way you paint but it's the subject matter we're not interested in.'"

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Source: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/