To the average person trying to create a picture full of action and emotion and fluidity, the use of flat color – let alone only two flat colors – seems counter-intuitive. After all, don’t we need a full spectrum to create anything resembling what emotions truly feel like? When it comes to artists like Michael Cho, it’s clear that the average person simply hasn’t reached deep enough to see just how powerful two-tone art can be, and how contemporary the past can feel when you’re willing to pour yourself into it.

Popverse sat down on a tired Sunday afternoon with Cho at Fan Expo Portland to discuss his beginnings as a contemporary painter, emotion through lighting, and whether or not his kid thinks him doing work for the New Yorker is cool.

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