Why there was a stir around figurative painting: 6 contemporary artists whose work causes delight and bewilderment

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Figurative painting has been a feature of art history for centuries. The works of contemporary artists who preferred this direction were no exception. What are the paintings of contemporaries and why there is such a stir around them - further in the article.

If figurative painting dominated for most of the early history of art, then by the beginning of the twentieth century this genre had become a symbol of an outdated tradition against which progressive styles of avant-garde abstraction rebelled. Pop art and photorealism of the 1970s brought a new form of depiction. The neo-expressionists of the 1980s made figurative painting fashionable again. Many artists worked with crude, experimental styles that were close to abstraction, and the ethos, in turn, was reflected in the anarchic, rebellious and purposefully bad imagery of German conceptual artists such as Albert Oelen and Martin Kippenberger.

But in the early 2000s, there was a truly explosive boom in figurative painting, led by an international team of artists. Despite the stylistic diversity and spread across the globe, these contemporary artists share a desire to create imagery that brings together pop culture references. Since then, a second wave of figurative painting has emerged, similar in style, but with a greater emphasis on the politics of today's identity and an even more intense, rich color palette that seems to refer to digital painting.

1. Aliza Nisenbaum

Alisa Nisenbaum is a rising New York artist with an upcoming solo show at Tate Liverpool scheduled for June 2021. Although her subject matter has been extremely varied over the years, she is best known for her colorful large-format canvases depicting a variety of community groups: the Anton Kern gallery staff, NHS staff, or London Underground team members. These complex groups of figures reflect the vibrant, multicultural mix of people that make up so many modern communities. Aliza is especially fond of painting human skin, noting:. Painted in acid-bright colors with an eye-catching pattern, her work is as reminiscent of the interiors of Henri Matisse as the pop art portraits of David Hockney.

2. Michael Armitage

Kenyan-born artist Michael Armitage has made a splash in the international art world with his dreamy, complex and vibrantly colorful paintings. He is now considered one of the most exciting and adventurous artists in contemporary art. Much of his art is created in response to turbulence in East Africa, taking in the influence of historical events, personal memories and recent news, which he composes into disparate, multi-layered images.

The scenes in the cities or jungles he creates are filled with figures caught in the middle of the action, as if they are teetering on the brink of violence or collapse, a condition that reflects the continuing uncertainty in African society. But he also seeks to keep any political references hidden, allowing the romantic qualities of art to take over. The artist also hints that he draws his inspiration from the history of European art, citing many predecessors, including Paul Gauguin, Titian, Francisco de Goya, Edouard Manet and Vincent van Gogh, whose powerful colors and compositional motives were given new life in his art.

3. Jordan Castile

American artist Jordan Castile usually created portraits of his acquaintances, friends, lovers and parents. Their colors are enhanced, smoothed and saturated for maximum visual impact. As a result, they are somewhat reminiscent of the recent artificially painted portraits of David Hockney. Like Hockney, Castile draws people from his closest circle of friends in New York. She captures them in relaxed poses and informal atmosphere at home or at work, surrounded by seemingly banal ephemera of everyday life. Observing the ordinary aspects of these people's lives allows her to highlight their quirks and characteristics, as well as their fragile and approachable humanity.

4. Sing Samson

The works of South African artist Singa Samson are painted in deep, mesmerizing shades of gold, black and green, giving them a calm, luxurious atmosphere of mystery. His most recent work is an exploration of self-portrait, but his own image is just a starting point from which to broader thinking about what it means to be a young black man today.

Like the traditional portraits that Rembrandt van Rijn created more than three hundred years ago, Sing's self-portraits are a process of self-discovery that is constantly changing as he experiments with different sets, clothes and poses. He sets up luxury items including gold chains, trendy sneakers and shimmery underwear, along with more general and banal props like hoodies, coffee cups and toothpaste. Often placing his figures in lush and tropical scenery, the artist draws on the botanical flora and fauna of his childhood in Africa. However, these scenes also take his characters away from the real world and bring them closer to the realms of dreams and fantasies.

5. Jonas Wood

Los Angeles-based artist Jonas Wood makes comic-book observations of his daily life, painting people, places and objects that surround him in a flat decorative style that literally drives you crazy with clashing plants, patterns and prints. His playful neo-pop contemporary art style has been likened to a wide range of predecessors from Henri Matisse to David Hockney and Alex Katz, sharing a love of vibrant texture, surface and color. Much of his work is motivated by the desire to draw what he calls a "visual diary" based on personal experience.

6. Lynette Yadom-Boakye

British artist and writer Lynette Yadom-Boakye is today renowned for her gripping imagery of fictional black characters drawn from found images, memory and imagination. Surrounded by brooding light in active poses and unusual costumes or clothing, they offer stories without betraying the game, leaving their meaning to the discretion of personal interpretation. The ambiguous names of her works only urge the viewer to dig deeper in order to find the very meaning and history hidden deep inside. One of the most popular and sought-after female artists to emerge in recent years, she was nominated for a Turner Prize in 2013 and her paintings are on display in a major exhibition at the Tate British Museum until May 2021.

P. S

Figurative art continues to be one of the most popular genres in contemporary art practice, occupying more and more space in studios, art venues and auction sales around the world.

O differences between modernism and postmodernismand also why this art was criticized - read in the next article.