Amy Brown Visual art research

   

Sanya Kantarovsky’s murky characters depict dark, complex narratives AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to Facebook Words by Rebecca Fulleylove , Tuesday 11 October 2016 Russian artist Sanya Kantarovsky’s paintings are inspired by his early memories of Moscow in both style and the themes he alludes to. His works often depict crowded and layered scenes full of flat shapes and lean, sinewy characters that would look perfectly at home on a cover of The New Yorker . Yet Sanya pushes his paintings further, playing with the surreal and abstract, by adorning chairs with human features and creating ambiguous silhouettes in the backgrounds of his works. The artist has just exhibited at Frieze London with gallery Stuart Shave , and his cartoon-like approach gives him the freedom to present ideas rather than just narratives. Social-political commentary and scrutinising the notion of the “artist” are just some of the subjects touched upon in Sanya’s paintings. These complex notions a...

Sanya Kantarovsky is known for his work across a variety of mediums, as well as his texts and curatorial projects. His multifaceted approach often results in artworks that seem forced to reckon with their own embarrassment. The dark humor consistent in Kantarovsky’s work pits the sumptuous against the abject and thrusts private space – be it physical or psychological – into public view. Kantarovsky’s most well known body of work, his figurative paintings, contains drastic shifts in scale, paint application and stylization. Evoking the feeling of an uneasy inner monologue, figures are gawked at, exposed, poked, or spooned medicine. They interact with one another, as well as the edges of the canvas itself, testing the confines of their given bodies and their given frame. Similarly, Kantarovsky probes his art historical predecessors: both canonical and relatively unknown painters, writers and illustrators. The presence of these muses, which dot Kantarovsky’s compositions simultaneously q...

Andrew Salgado is a leading young figurative painter with over a dozen sold-out international exhibitions, including London, New York, Zagreb, Miami, Cape Town, and Basel. In 2017, Salgado was the youngest artist to ever receive a survey-exhibition at The Canadian High Commission in London, accompanied by a 300-page monograph, both of which were entitled  TEN .  “The large scale, gestural paintings of Andrew Salgado explore concepts relating to the destruction and reconstruction of identity – a process that he views as re-considering the conventions of figurative painting through a pursuit toward abstraction. Salgado questions the nature of identity and even the act of painting itself as something monstrous, allegorical, or symbolic. Incorporating Classical archetypes alongside a wildly inventive approach to his chosen media, Salgado’s work defies categorization. Recent works include collage, mixed-media, and even hand-dyed and hand-stitched linen and canvas. ”I am in...

Michael Kagan’s oil-based paintings are eclectic – heavy brush strokes in sharp primary colours do not let the viewer get away easily. The way Kagan paints attracts attention. His game is not so much one of perspective as it is of immersion. Like through a whirling wind of colours one is hauled into the canvas, nearly hypnotically. To stand further back from the image is an attempt to understand it, while the following step towards it only testifies to an unexplainable magic. Photo's by Wesley Verhoeve The city of New York has shaped and inspired countless artists. Kagan too feels the pleasant grip of the metropole in his studio practice. It is rare for elements that are so different from each other to melt together so elegantly. The subject matter is historic, technological and scientific, images of man pushing the limit of his abilities. If Kagan approves? Maybe. But the colours have a slightly coldish blue tint and are applied rather boldly, ...

What Is Hardboard? Hardboard is the term used for a board or panel made from a hardwood such as oak, cedar, birch, walnut, or mahogany. Softwoods like pine are not suitable for painting because they contain excess resins and they tend to crack. What’s the Difference Between Hardboard, Masonite, MDF, and Plywood? These terms tend to be used interchangeably when people talk about painting on a board or wood panel rather than canvas. Masonite is often used as a painting support. It is a trademarked brand name of a particular type of board. It is made (in very basic terms) from wood fibers and glue (resin) that is molded into flat boards. High-grade or furniture plywood makes a good painting support. Extremely smooth plywood is made from birch, mahogany, and poplar. Hollow core door is another painting surface to consider, and it makes a relatively light panel. Laminated board has a mica film on its surface to give it resistance and strength. Check ...