Video: Dead nature: gothic still lifes by photographer Kevin Best
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Photographer Kevin Best originally from Paddington - a suburb of sunny Sydney, but his interests lie in the field of gloomy and mysterious. "My main passions are still life and surrealism," says Best; here it is just appropriate to remember that the Russian word "still life" literally means "dead nature".
Kevin Best was born in New Zealand - which is known to be named after Zeeland, a province of the Netherlands. So God himself told the photographer to get carried away with the work of the old Dutch masters. Best did not blindly copy Rembrandt, Bakhuizen, Trost, Vermeer and other representatives of the "Golden Age" - the New Zealander decided to creatively rethink their immortal heritage.
Most of the items that Best photographs are authentic antiques from the Golden Age. If the photographer cannot find an exact analogue of the dagger or goblet seen in the 17th century painting, he makes a detailed copy of this accessory with his own hands.
According to critics, Best is distinguished by his "encyclopedic knowledge" in the field of classical art and household utensils of modern times - he knows the history of every thing that can be seen in the paintings of the same Rembrandt and that appear in his photographs. Museums and prestigious art competitions in New Zealand, Australia and the United States have already celebrated Best's accomplishments.
Kevin Best with his cycle Still life - not the only contemporary artist who is inspired by immortal canvases Rembrandt and Vermeer … Nevertheless, as noted by American Photo back in 2009, it is in his work that "the subtle realism and warm lighting of the paintings of the Golden Age really come to life."
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