Tony Schanuel is an award-winning digital artist who has fused a professional background in photography with advanced digital technology to create fine art that transcends both mediums. Schanuel has received extensive international recognition and honors. He was selected by an international panel to exhibit his work at the 2003 and 2005 Biennale Internazionale dell’ Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy and honors from the International Digital Artists Association, EFX Art & Design Magazine (Sweden) and Digital Photography & Design (Australia).
Schanuel has a studio gallery at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, Missouri. His work has been featured in Digital Imaging Magazine, Computer Graphics Magazine, Wild Heart Journal, St. Louis Design Magazine, and is a featured artist in Cyber Palette and Extreme Graphics, two books showcasing digital artists and their work, with a guide to the creative process.
Picaso’s Tulips by Tony Schanuel (2006). Medium digital photographic.
KOI DREAM by Tony Schanuel (2006). Medium digital on archival paper.
Artist statement
My work is an exploration into the unseen world of consciousness, that last amazing frontier – inner space, one’s own consciousness. My goal is to inspire the viewer to the possibilities of the unseen world.
I am inspired by visual artists Dali, MC Escher and Miro and the writings of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and Antonio Machado. The incredible creative synergy of these influences merge with my Zen meditation practice to inform my art.
My background as a digital artist is grounded in my earlier career as a professional photographer. I’ve always been intrigued with the process of manipulating images in the darkroom. My earliest art was created by sandwiching color transparencies in the printing process, creating images that were photographic yet surreal. Fifteen years ago, I jumped in the digital world with my first Macintosh computer. The computer gave me new freedom to express, create, experiment and explore realms of reality in ways I never could have imagined.
My hope is that my art, and the nearly endless images embedded within, will transport views to their own sense of wonder and discovery.