Bly and Rowan Pope

BLY POPE

Bly Pope is a professional studio artist with a profound dedication and experience with hyperrealism and the classic fine art traditions. He graduated from Stanford University and received his Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Minnesota, where he has been an Adjunct Professor for over fourteen years, teaching classes in Drawing, Graphic Novel Illustration, and Artistic Interpretation from Vintage Cinema. He has also taught at The Minneapolis College of Art and Design for eight years, in Foundation: 2D, and The Interactive Visual Novel. His work has been shown and awarded in numerous exhibitions, and has been purchased by The Cafesjian Museum of Fine Art in Armenia and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. His drawing, “Maryanna,” was selected to be a part of the National Portrait Competition Exhibition at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery throughout 2013-2014 and was purchased by the Minneapolis Institute of Art for their permanent collection in 2017. His work has been collected by many private collectors worldwide.


ROWAN POPE

Rowan Pope is a professional studio artist whose work explores the human condition by telling visual narratives. Many of his drawings and paintings are inspired by great stories from literature, particularly the surreal work of Franz Kafka. He has worked extensively with genocide and Holocaust survivors, and some of his art derives from the devastating real-life stories told by these survivors. He works in an imaginative style of photorealism called “composite photorealism,” in which he integrates photographs into digital collages and transforms those collages into meticulous drawings. Rowan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University and received his Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Minnesota where he has been an Adjunct Professor for over ten years, teaching classes in Drawing, Graphic Novel Illustration and Artistic Interpretation from Vintage Cinema. He has also taught design and color theory classes for eight years at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. In 2013 he created an illustrated book based on the stories of Holocaust survivor Joe Grosnacht, for which he received a Major Arts Grant from Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Council. His artwork has been shown in many national and international exhibitions and has won numerous awards. Rowan’s work was shown last year with his twin brother Bly’s at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which purchased his drawing entitled “A Hunger Artist.” His work is owned by various private collectors across the globe.

Here is a YouTube video featuring Bly and Rowan and their 2018 exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBJ4CuMT0gY&t=106s