Current art trends make it pretty easy to be a painter. Whether a canvas is covered with one bold color or dripping with acrylic snot, almost any three-minute creation has a shot at getting into sophisticated museums. This is exactly why it was so rewarding to find Jake Messing’s work – the guy is really talented!

A Parsons School of Design graduate, Messing likes to paint dark, decaying urban and industrial landscapes, but enjoys dipping into different styles when he gets bored.

“Sometimes, I get frustrated with my work and I’ll go into figurative pieces,” he said. “Lately, I’ve also been experimenting with more surrealist images and painting from my imagination.”