A little different style this week with 4 artists who really have the term “realism” down. I have always been a huge fan of pop art, or just art in general that captures something about us as humans that we really miss in our everyday lives-not just a series of anecdotes or trite portrayals of the human condition. But just a celebration of us as people, with our quirky, odd, and fantastic ways.
1. Duane Hanson
Hanson’s work featured life-sized, hyper realistic sculptures of everyday people. His work is really fantastic. Everything from socks to individual arm hairs, he leaves no room for error. You can see more of his work online at the Saatchi Gallery, which also includes a bio and some other great resources.
2. Chuck Close
Super huge, super detailed. Chuck Close, with a body of work that ranges from the above (work located at the MET) to more stuff like this, he melds the use of graphs, color studies, and math into beautiful pieces of work.
Ron Mueck & Richard Estes after the jump:
3. Ron Mueck
Ok, before, you could say that I was messing around with the realism thing, because this guy WILL blow your mind. Ron Mueck takes realism to the Xtreme, and plays with our mind’s understanding of size to bring upon some pretty amazing work. Fantastic!
I couldn’t find a good collection of his work on one site, so here’s some great places to get aquantined: Fresh Pics and Paintalicious has a great range of examples.
4. Richard Estes
Considered on of the pioneers of photorealism and hyper-realism, Richard Estes was apart of the New York school of painters in the mid-50s, early 60s. Famous for bringing so much life into scenes of the city, especially through the reflecion of glass, shop front, or revolving doors. You can see more and read about Estes online over at ArtNet or of course, Wikipedia.
Cheers!