Ophelia, Oil on Canvas, 111.8 × 142.2 cm, 2024

J. Adam McGalliard is a contemporary realist artist whose work blends classical oil painting with modern technology to explore identity, myth, and the tensions shaping today’s world. His layered narratives weave personal stories with archetypes and the relationship between humanity and nature, seen in series such as Erewhon, which envisions surreal figures in imagined futures, and Personas, which reflects on the roles we adopt in a changing society.

Trained by Vincent Desiderio and Steven Assael at the New York Academy of Art, he refined his practice during his MFA and later as an assistant to Jeff Koons. His work has earned recognition from the Art Renewal Center, where he won the Enchanted Living Magazine Award, and has been exhibited internationally at venues including Context Art Miami, LA Art Show, Sotheby’s, the Museo de la Ciudad de México, Arcadia Contemporary and Stolen Space. McGalliard is currently Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of North Florida, continuing to expand his visual language from his Jacksonville studio.