In his ongoing series of photorealistic oil paintings called the Aging Superhero, Swedish Andreas Englund takes into the candidly humorous of an anonymous superhero who has probably seen better days. Though he still puts up a tough fight, the wear and tear of battling crime has taken its toll on this elderly action figure. From a statement by Philipp Windmüller:

In a kind of tender comic on a huge canvas, Englund describes the hero who is slowly but surely spending his remaining years with human traits as a link between the artist himself and the viewer. It was extremely important to Englund to portray the aging process with an intensified presence. If you want to accord credibility to a character, the character himself needs to up reality and the aging process. He has to acknowledge to himself that he cannot live up to expectations and that the “perfect life” is nothing more than wishfulness. Englund's artworks are focused on the maturing process. Even in the old age it is still possible to achieve something valuable although someone's drive and vigour won't bluster out explosively. Nevertheless everybody in his advanced age deserves to be recognised and respected for what he has achieved in life.

Many of Englund's original paintings are available through his website, and almost everything you see here is also availble as a limited edition print.

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