Throughout his career, self taught Yorkshire based painter Tony South has portrayed English daily life with a unique sense of humor. His portraits of animal subjects with a heavy metal streak are depicted in common day scenes like drinking tea and reading the morning newspaper. South’s painting style has been described as “Rockwellian”, referring to illustrator Norman Rockwell who painted detailed idyllic scenes of American life. South paints from life with similar realism, building a playful and surreal narrative from his social observations. One of his biggest inspirations are action hero comics by Stan Lee, where the heroes are every day people suddenly thrust into extraordinary situations. South bases his paintings on real people including the artist’s own self portraits used as reference. In his latest series of acrylic and oil paintings, South depicts hot rod and biker culture with a Planet of the Apes twist. He brings out the ‘wild side’ of his characters in humorous images of chimps riding motorcycles and gorillas in leather jackets smoking cigarettes and chugging Coca-Cola.
With the rise of technology, experiencing the natural world in modern society has become almost completely irrelevant. New Jersey based painter 
Painter 
The word "escapism" can have a negative meaning, suggesting that escapists are unhappy and unable to connect with the world around them. It sounds like a surreal concept, but in our every day lives, on social media for example, we find ways to divert from reality. 