“I have been living, painting, and exhibiting in San Francisco, since finishing art school in the mid-seventies. For the past seven years, I have been working on a painting project that depicts both the era and the people of the San Francisco art community that I’ve known for over forty years; a circus theme seemed somehow appropriate. All the portraits (over ninety paintings) are composed in either a circus, sideshow, or performance setting. In addition, I have also painted about forty pieces, whose subject matter relates to timely San Francisco issues, shown as well in circus settings. 

My friend and acclaimed pioneer of photorealism, Robert Bechtle, was a major influence on me for this series of work. Sadly, he is departed. The local ‘art scene’ that we have been all so much a part of, is slowly disappearing and even though the art world strives onward, it seems like a very different place.”

—Michael Brennan