Hyperrealism Archives – Daily Art Fixx

Paul Cadden: Photorealism

August 4, 2012 By Wendy Campbell

Born in 1964 in Glasgow, Scotland, Paul Cadden studied print design at Glasgow College of Building and Printing as well as Animation and Illustration at James Watt College. At first (and second) glance, Cadden’s pieces look like photographs. They are however, meticulously detailed pencil and graphite drawings and paintings.

Cadden defines his work as Hyperrealism and says: “Although the drawings and paintings I make are based upon a series of photographs, video stills etc, the art created from the photo is used to create a softer and much more complex focus on the subject depicted, presenting it as a living tangible object. These objects and scenes in my drawings create the illusion of a new reality not seen in the original photo .

The Hyperrealism style focuses much more of its emphasis on details and the subjects. Hyper-real paintings and sculptures are not strict interpretations of photographs, nor are they literal illustrations of a particular scene or subject. Instead, they utilize additional, often subtle, pictorial elements to create the illusion of a reality which in fact either does not exist or cannot be seen by the human eye. Furthermore, they may incorporate emotional, social, cultural and political thematic elements as an extension of the painted visual illusion; a distinct departure from the older and considerably more literal school of Photo-realism.”

To see more, visit PaulCadden.com.

Jamie Salmon: Hyperrealsim

May 8, 2012 By Wendy Campbell

Jamie Salmon is a British born, self taught contemporary sculptor, living and working in Vancouver, Canada. He started his career working as a commercial artist and sculptor for the movie effects industry. He specializes in hyper-realist sculpture, both figurative and portrait, utilizing such materials as silicone rubber, resin, hair and fabric.

Jamie says of his working process; “The most important part of the artistic process for me is the initial idea behind the work. If it isn`t as strong as possible, then the lengthy process of sculpting, molding, painting etc, no matter how well done, will be for nothing and the work will fall flat.

I want to make something that tells a story or moves people in some sort of way, not something that just looks very real. Of course, I need my works to have a certain degree of reality about them, but it`s more of a heightened reality. This is also why I like to play with scale in a lot of my works as well. I think it is something that catches people off guard and forces them to confront their ideas about reality, and to also think about the idea behind the work more deeply. Maybe more so than they would do if the piece were just life size.

I think hyper-realist art too often tries to reach what is ultimately an unattainable level of perfection. That should not be the goal with it anyway.

At the end of the day, I hope that my works contain meaning and convey a real sense of emotion as well. And if they also take people by surprise and affect them on perhaps an unexpected level, I really feel I`ve succeeded”. (bio from Avatar Sculpture Works)

To see more, visit AvatarSculptureWorks.com

Ron Mueck: Hyperrealism

November 26, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

Hyperrealist sculptor Ron Mueck was born in 1958 in Melbourne Australia. His parents were toy makers so as a child he participated in the creation of puppets and costumes. With no other formal art education, Mueck was able to establish a career making models for film and television including Labyrinth and puppets for Sesame Street. Mueck then established his own production company in London, making photo-realistic props and animatronics for the advertising industry.

Since 1996, Mueck has devoted himself full-time to his art. Though incredibly lifelike, his pieces are always either smaller than life-size or enormous. Mueck has used fiberglass to create his sculptures and has started using silicone, a more flexible material that is easier to shape.

Muecks’s works are detailed down to the last mole, the last wrinkle, and the last stubble of hair. The technical skill required to produce such intricate sculptures is mind-boggling. But even from a photo, one can tell, the power of his sculptures lay not only in the detail or scale, but in the emotions his characters convey – vulnerability, loneliness, boredom – the emotions of every day life.

Mueck has had a number of solo and group exhibitions around the world. In 1999 he was appointed to a two year post as Associate Artist at the National Gallery, London. In 2002 his sculpture Pregnant Woman was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia for AU$800,000.

For more information about Ron Mueck visit Wikipedia, Artcylopedia, or the source links below.

Sources: Brooklyn Museum, Cybermuse, Wikipedia

Art-e-Facts: 5 Random Art Facts X

February 26, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

1. Reverse Graffiti (aka clean tagging, dust tagging, grime writing), is a method of creating art in public spaces by removing the dirt from its surface. Early forms of reverse graffiti include writing and pictures drawn on the dirty windows of cars and shops. In the last several years, a more advanced method has emerged where art is created by cleaning dirty surfaces with stencils, detergent, and a high powered pressure washer. The interesting thing about reverse graffiti is it can be applied to so many different mediums with ink. Old t-shirts with peeling logos, vintage promotional mugs, maps…he possibilities are endless.

2. At the age of twelve Ansel Adams taught himself to play the piano and read music. Soon after, he began lessons and for the next twelve years he studied piano, intending to make his living as a concert pianist. Adams ultimately gave up piano for photography but these early studies ” brought substance, discipline, and structure to his frustrating and erratic youth. Moreover, the careful training and exacting craft required of a musician profoundly informed his visual artistry, as well as his influential writings and teachings on photography.”

3. “American Gothic” by Grant Wood depicts a farmer and his spinster daughter posing before their house, whose gabled window and tracery, in the American gothic style, inspired the painting’s title. The models were actually Grant’s sister Nan and their dentist. Wood was accused of creating this work as a satire on the intolerance and rigidity that the insular nature of rural life can produce; he denied the accusation. American Gothic is an image that epitomizes the Puritan ethic and virtues that he believed dignified the Midwestern character.”

4. Hyperrealism is a genre of painting and sculpture resembling a high resolution photograph. It is a fully-recognized school of art and is considered to be an advancement of Photorealism by the methods used to create the resulting photorealistic paintings or sculptures. The term is primarily applied to an independent art movement and art style in the United States and Europe that has developed since the early 2000s.

5. The Salon des Refusés, French for “exhibition of rejects” was officially sponsored by the French Government in 1863 and was an exhibition of works rejected by the jury of the Paris Salon. Any artist who wanted to be recognized, at that time, was required to have exhibited in a Salon, or to have gone to school in France. Being accepted into these Salons was a matter of survival for some artists and reputations and careers could be started or broken based upon acceptance into the Salon. Today, the term refers to any exhibition of works rejected from a juried art show.

Sources: Wikipedia (hyperrealism), DAF (items 1-4)

Patricia Piccinini: Hyperrealism

August 19, 2009 By Wendy Campbell

Today, we look at the hyperrealist sculptures of Patricia Piccinini. Piccinini was born in 1965 in Freetown, Sierra Leone and moved to Australia in 1972. Piccinini has a Bachelor of Arts (Economic History), from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Arts in Painting from the Victorian College of the Arts.

To construct her bizarre but lovable characters, Piccinini uses a number of ingredients including silicone, fibreglass, human hair, leather, plywood, clothing, polyurethane, leather, and mdf.

Piccinini has received worldwide attention for her works that explore themes of biotechnology and contemporary ideas about nature that take us to a “post-Darwinian destination populated with fantastical creatures, new communities and bioethical conundrums.”

Children are often featured in Piccinini’s sculptures: “A young child represents possibility, both positive and negative. Also babies don’t make judgments. The world is totally new to them – they just take it in. They have no expectation and are always surprised. Children aren’t threatening. On the contrary, they bring out the best in us; we want to care for them, protect them. I use children to evoke the idea of vulnerability. In my work, it is often the creatures that seem vulnerable. They are mostly reliant on us and at our mercy.”

Piccinini is not only a sculptor, but works in a variety of mediums including drawing, painting, video, sound, interactive CD’s, and digital images. She has had numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide including Australia, New York, Japan, Peru and the Philippines, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, France, Italy, Wales, Korea, and New Zealand.

To explore more of Patricia Piccinini’s diverse works, visit PatriciaPiccinini.net.

Sources: Wikipedia (hyperrealism), DAF (items 1-4)

Souces: Brooklyn Museum, National Gallery of Victoria