At first sight, I could have sworn these were pieces from
Chuck Close. But, I was sadly mistaken.
These pieces are from the artist Juan Francisco Casas. Casas (37) is a young
Spanish artist who has a technique similar to that of Chuck Close. He takes pictures with his camera, then produce
blue ball-point pen drawings and large oil paintings from them. Casas, along
with Close, was chosen to display his work in the “Realism: The Adventure of
Reality” – Exhibition at the Hypo-Kunsthalle in Munch. The Exhibition focused on artists who where
precise and detailed-oriented when they dealt with reality. Even though he may be compared to Close and other
photo-realism artists, he is well documented with several
qualifications, prestigious awards and prizes, and has his own sense of style.
Casas has a very youthful style, even though he is 37 you can tell he is very in touch with pop culture of today. This allows him to connect to a much broader target market than most than most because this is eye catching to all. I enjoyed your post.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I totally agree. His work is definitely eye catching. And when viewers find out he is using ballpoint pin, they are drawn to his work even more.
DeleteThere's something very authentic and revealing about close-up photography. Nothing else can fit in the frame so you're left with only the emotion that's captured. No frills. The ability of talented artists like Casas to meticulously reproduce photographs completely blows my mind. I can also appreciate the fact he's developing a signature technique; a blue ball-point pen won't allow for very many mistakes. I'd be interested to know how he deals with poor ink release from the pen and if that's ever messed up any of his work.
ReplyDeleteAh yes...the poor ink release. We have all experienced that. Great question...
DeleteThis is amazing! I had to look at more of his work to check to see it these are not actual photos. WOW! I am such a fan of Close and his photorealism, now Casas is on my "must check out" list. Using at PEN---I am still in awe.
ReplyDeleteHe is definitely one of my new favorites. I have much respect for this guy. Glad you enjoyed it.
DeleteBallpoint? Thats amazing. Close also came to mind when I first scrolled down. The shading is just perfect. I would love to watch a photorealist actually create a piece.
ReplyDelete