Michael Wilkinson’s Fluorochiaroscuro at P·P·O·W plays with the reality of a still life, breathing new life into this form of painting. He produced a series of twelve paintings over the span of a year, on show at P·P·O·W gallery from September 9 to October 24, 2026, at 392 Broadway, featuring the use of fluorescent paint.
Wilkinson (b. 1965), from Liverpool and based in Glasgow, felt deeply affected by the passage of time and the changing of the seasons. After experiencing the highs and lows of COVID, Wilkinson decided to hone in on nature as his subject matter for this show and in the future. He elaborated, “This is an opportunity to move things in a different direction…”
When viewing his paintings, particularly Gladioli I and Gladioli II, you can see how softly the pink petals have been painted. His aim is “to use fluorescent paint to enhance the baths of light” and make the experience of viewing still lifes more vibrant and alive.
Wilkinson feels deeply enamored and entangled with nature. “Even spring feels more unreal, the older you get, the less you take these things for granted…” In the show, he displays the four seasons in one of the two rooms, with four canvases representing each season. He went on to explain that spring is his favorite, with the cherry blossoms flooding Glasgow as winter ends and longer days start to appear. Sun and shadows seem to be at the top of his mind as of late, as weather patterns are more erratic and nature seems more important than ever.
In the second room, his series of still lifes are painted with fluorescent acrylic paint on Belgian linen. Originally a watercolorist, his light-handed technique is evident on the canvas, where he embraces small shifts in the painting, including painting over the shadows within the threads of Belgian linen, layer by layer.
As a painter, he notices that “when the light hits it, it bumps in the linen and casts a shadow.” The works play with the reality of the canvas, with some parts left as bare Belgian linen and other portions illustrating a primed still life at hand.
He expresses his detail-oriented technique through his use of photography, attempting to capture the light and shadows of the floral arrangements before time passes too quickly.
Wilkinson’s paintings seem crafted as a precise exploration of fluorescence, which he brings into the tradition of still life. His show follows three main themes: light, time and reality.
Wilkinson explores these themes most heavily in his Delphinium series. The same bouquet’s light and shadow shift intensely because of the sun’s interaction with a cloud, creating three paintings that make you feel as though time is passing alongside the flowers at hand. Not only do the shadows shift, but the brightness of the petals in the same bouquet feels heavier in Delphinium II.
The canvases are a study in patience, and the show in its entirety is as well. The passage of ten minutes on the same day, creating three completely different paintings, is exactly the slow, tenuous work that true focus creates.
As Wilkinson completed this collection, he mentioned a move towards painting trees:
“Part of the thing with still life is the flowers are dead, they don’t know it yet. What you’re actually looking at is suspended animation. They can briefly act as though they’re alive because they’re in water. In French it is called nature morte, because they are artificially being kept alive, whereas trees are a living thing…”
His still lifes seem to be living on stolen time, playing with what is and what is not there. More trees and en plein air next, it seems.
Michael Wilkinson, fluorochiaroscuro, September 9th – October 24th, 2026 P·P·O·W
–Rayya Fadlo Khuri