Figurative art: the little black dress of the art world
With ever more overlapping styles and genres on the market, it is sometimes hard to decide which style you want to go for when buying art. There are trends that come and go in slightly changed forms but there's one all other movements depart from: figurative art. Depicting objects, especially the human form is perhaps the oldest art form. Nowadays it responds to digitalization, questions of gender, race & equality and all aspects shaping human identity today.
For some time in the late 20th and beginning of this century figurative art was frowned upon like conceptual abstraction's uncool old sister. Curator Alison Gingeras goes so far to say that "it was not okay to like it." But we think it is. Since Gagosian's famous figurative show "Unrealism" in 2015 and risen art stars such as John Currin and Kehinde Wiley, figurative art tackling the human form is fresher than ever. And this trend is also visible in the top art schools. We've put together a few of our favourite emerging artists from our platform below that show how excitingly varied the latest figurative approaches are. The conclusion from this is that as long as we stay human, we will explore and depict ourselves dealing with the pressing questions of our own identity. So buying a piece of figurative art will always be a good choice like buying a little black dress is.
Seth Stewart-Brown, student at City and Guilds of London Art School, juxtaposes the classical and the modern. The halo and beams of light surrounding the figure's head are similar to stain glass works within churches and we are reminded of ancient mythology and religion opening up a dialogue with contemporary brand imagery.
Austin Moule, graduate from the University of Wisconsin, Madison describes his works as surrealist cartoons in which the figure is limited to its most basic elements. The skin texture suggests resemblance with inanimate objects and an idiosyncratic humour emanates from the contrast of heavily worked surfaces and quickly made brush strokes.
Billy Parker, student at Slade School of Art London, works with flat layers of acrylic built up to create an image. He aims at creating fun pieces placing figures in theatrical, stage-like spaces to create intimate but at the same time anonymous narratives.
Isar, student at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, likes to paint daily scenes observing her surroundings as if she were an alien only briefly visiting this planet. She is interested in the figures that emerge from watching groups involved in one common activity such as rugby or football to depict that which is directly visible and that which is ephemeral or even spiritual.
Figurative art: the little black dress of the art world
