March 24, 2009

This aint no photograph boys



Think your looking at photographs? Well, rub your little peepers and take another look. These works are from the German born painter Taner Ceylan, who now lives and paints in Istanbul. His specialty is photorealism and hyperrealism (pull out your art history definition books from art school boys…and while your down there…). What may be one of the hardest and meticulous artistic forms to master, these paintings take an incredible amount of talent, patience, and skill, a level that most of us will never be able to attain (sigh, we all can't be perfect). This gift is rare, and comes with great amounts of criticism that can often be frustrating for the artist. Why they gotta judge right?

When we first ran across some of his fantastically homoerotic themed paintings, we had to actually look twice, and not just because his images are intensely stimulating and sexually charged, holla! His ability to replicate, not only the details and nuances of real life, but also the mood or feeling contained in that moment he captures, kind of gives us a work boner. However, don’t mistake this talent for just the ability to reproduce images from life, he also adds intensely personal touches to his paintings, making subtle yet effective statements.


For instance, his painting above titled “Spiritual” is actually a statement on the art world’s judgment of his work. In the original photo, the boxer is not bleeding at all, and doesn’t have quite the same “punch drunk” look on his face. He also changed the face of the boxer to more resemble himself, in a way, making this a self-portrait. He is playing with reality, expressing his emotional damages from facing harsh public criticism, from the art world, into literal wounds on the boxer, and thus himself. It’s these little details in his work that really captured our hearts.

He has been exhibited extensively, and is currently in his first solo show in NYC from March 6th to April 25 at i-20 Gallery. If you’re around town, check it out. Seeing his work in person can only add to the intensity of experiencing his paintings, and if you’re lucky, you may just run into your future boyfriend at the gallery. I’m sure it will be flooded with beautiful art homos from all corners of Manhattan, grappling for a closer look at these captivatingly sensual paintings.



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