Slowly but surely I'm warming up to contemporary portraiture. It's not an easy pill to swallow, as I've always been a bigger fan of abstract art, but all of the amazing work I've seen lately has made me think twice.

Case in point: Thais Zumblick.

If Elizabeth Peyton and Kehinde Wiley had a daugther, who lives and works in Buenos Aires, her name would most definitely be Thais Zumblick.

Zumblich studied architecture in in her native Brazil for 3 years before moving to Florence, where she finished her training studying drawing, painting, and art history. Despite studying and living in Italy -- both Florence and Milan -- for over 6 years, Thais' portraiture never lost a certain Brazilian realism and naivite, which are two of the defining features of her work.

Another being every subject who's portrait she's ever painted has had their eyes skillfully and subtly blackened out. She's done it so well that after looking at her work three or four times, I still didn't see it until a friend pointed it out. Once you notice, though, it changes everything and adds another level of appreciation for Zumblick's work.

Check out her site here. The colors and the realism in the latest two bodies of work are amazing. They're at once realistic depictions of mundane, real life activities, while at the same time hyperreal, larger than life paintings made with colors not found in nature. The combination is amazing.

Don't forget to read her artist's statement (in Spanish) and this interview with the artist where she spells out her artistic vision.

If you want more information about Zumblick or if you're interested in showing her work, email her US rep Andre Schaeffer. I'd love to see her work in New York soon.