American Ruins By Adam Rote

Have you ever looked at a picture that looked so real you’d swear it was a photograph? If you have, then you’ve just experienced “realism” at its best and you can easily see why it’s the hardest expression of art to execute. Details, blending, colors, and knowledge of space and perspective are key to ensure you double take that the picture really isn’t a photograph. Recently, I was referred to a collection of pictures from a gallery in St. Augustine. They told me that I had to see this artist’s amazing work; the detail will amaze.

What I saw was a collection of extremely detailed pictures portraying beautiful, young and vibrant women in period attire, against a wall of decay and abandonment; showing beauty in both scenarios of the piece. The detail was so intense, I actually had to ask the artist if he painted over a picture and used mixed media for his work. I was wrong. The artist never incorporated photography at all, instead it was hand drawn art at its best. I was so impressed that I had to write about this artist.  His name is Adam Scott Rote of Adam Scot Rote Studio.

This amazing realism artist is a self taught master. He tried to enter the Cleveland Institute of Art, but to his surprise, never got accepted. Looking back, Rote says it was probably the best thing that could ever have happened to him. He wanted a challenge in art and wanted to be creative, not just draw the pipes on the wall in monochrome. After all, where’s the passion? Instead, Rote studied in the library, reading about art and techniques of the masters, then applying what he learned in his own work.

Rote isn’t your typical artist. He uses a variety of mediums to create his pieces including acrylic paint, air brush, watercolors, and pencils. It boggles my mind to know that you can combine so many different mediums together in one picture and make them work seamlessly; but Rote does it so well, almost effortlessly.

Rote’s success has extended past just his art. He owned his own gallery in Key West, Florida from 1989 to 1994. It was during that time when he did a lot of celebrity portraits. Rote eventually started his own mermaid and mermen collection, which gave him his nickname, the “mermaid and merman man” of the 90s.

When Rote moved from Key West to Ft. Lauderdale, he started to incorporate his models with the old buildings down through South Beach in Miami. This led to his current and most well known collection, “American Ruins.” This collection is a signature collection whose concept and application helped Rote stand out from the rest.

“American Ruins” was born with a photographer friend of his that showed him some pictures that he took of an old, run down building in Massachusetts. That gave Rote an inspiration for this collection. He says growing up in the 70s there was always an elegance, look or style on the TV or in person, even with his parents, that just fascinated him. Rote took that elegance and mixed it with the old condemned buildings and got this intense collection.

What’s so wonderful about this collection is that it captures beauty in the decay, while showing the elegance of the period though the women he incorporates into the pictures with their ghostly forms. It allows the art to talk. What you see is what this building looks like today, obviously abandoned, but it flashes back to its glory days when it was lived in and loved.

The pictures incorporate all the mediums Rote utilizes, and captures an astonishing level of realism. I dare you to look at it closely and tell me if you have to do a double take to see whether it’s a photo or not.

With the theme of old and new, Rote continued the line incorporating that ideal into a new collection called “Modern Pop Ruins.” This has the same kind of feeling as “American Ruins,” except that it incorporates the fun loving characters we used to watch in the mornings such as Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Franken Berry. This cool collection portrays these characters as brand new. However, the box they are on looks like it was buried in the back of your grandmother’s cupboard and forgotten for 30 years before it was exhumed and brought back to the light. It’s simple in nature, but it makes you think about all that is around you and how it will look years from now. It also makes you think about the other side, like the stuff we grew up loving. What would it look like now if we pulled it out from the depths of our attic?

Rote’s pictures bring out thought and beauty in many forms, capturing an emotion that’s hard to describe. His work is one that will never be duplicated, and his intense realism can only be strived for. There is the expression, “if walls could talk” and Rote definitely makes them do just that. In fact, the message hits you right square between the eyes.

If you want to see this talented artist’s work, you can see it at the following galleries: Gallery Duval in Key West, Collection Privee in South Beach, Miranda Galleries in Laguna Beach, CA and of course, through his website where you can see some digital samples of his work, www.adamrote.com

Photo Credits: Photos contained in this article are published with the consent of Adam Rote and can’t be used for any other reason without permission of the artist.