Mike Dargas was born in Cologne, Germany in 1983 where he still resides. Alongside extensive drawing, he started making paintings with oil paint from a very young age. At eleven years of age, Dargas first displaying his talent publicly, drawing ‘old master’ paintings with pastel and chalk on the pavement in front of Cologne cathedral. At the same time he was accepted into art school, from which he graduated after a year and a half, the only child in a class of adults. In his early twenties, he built himself a significant reputation in the tattoo art scene where he won numerous prizes and awards. Inspired by artists such as Salvador Dali, Caravaggio and HR Giger, Mike Dargas continued to study a range of techniques in pursuit of a form of hyperrealism in his painting. The artist studies his subjects with enormous intensity, giving each painted portrait an intense and intimate closeness. Dargas subjects often appear lost in thought, reflecting an inner conflict or conveying an ethereal calmness. The perfection of his technique is an attempt to reach for the true soul within each single subject. Through his works, Dargas invites us to take a closer look, so we can understand the nature of humanity and in turn question our own emotional perception.