by *Christoph342


A subject in painting that is as perpetual as the sun is figuration. Its evolution has not gone unnoticed from earlier stages such as the Doryphoros to current contemporary trends. Some of the most notable 'figure' painters are Pearlstein, Freud, Currin, Dine, Kippenberger - all of whom at one point or another painted or sculpted the human form -realistic or otherwise. The reason why I have chosen this work is to evaluate the stages figurative painting reaches before becoming a complete masterpiece, or a complete mess.

In Male Nude 13 we are given a figure in a solitary environment. This must mean that yes, we focus on nothing but figuration and gesture alone. The absence of the gaze and the downward tilt of the head establishes this immediately. As one in a large series of figurative paintings of the male nude, we, or I, may consider the motives behind such paintings, and why they are created in a larger body of work. At once I believe there is more to the work than the language of posture, or even more than the emotive elements most commonly, and most overused, than related to human feelings like, in the artist's own words, "introspective contemplation, frustration, or despair", but I am mistaken and disappointed this 'figure' will not go any further. The use of emotive elements is rampant at deviantART and most amateur painting - as they are immediate and easy to access for almost every artist. The stereotype of 'passtionate and deep and introverted artist' comes from this, and doesn't often reflect upon professional contemporary art. This is why this work, and the others in this body of paintings, does nothing but conjure a formulatic response to figure painting and the notions attributed.

The paint itself is applied abrasively and intuitively - from the looks of the strokes and the colouring. We should be aware tha the figure has been painted quite differently than the background and environment in which it sits - as a chunky and meaty and gesturally active figure as opposed to the blank and drab and flat negative space. This opposition of paint application can be quite lovely and is seen best in the works of Freud and Keifer. What *Christoph342 is crucially missing here is colour knowledge and most of the fundamental parts to creating a convincing male nude. Not only does the red and orange relate to, again, a formulaic habit, the skin is not true. Often with this sort of work when you have established that the figure is the sole occupant in a painting, you must at least give it enough volume and strength and visual currency to partially convince an audience what motives you have behind a painting such as this. When the strokes are strong, but the colouring is extremely weak, the piece falls apart, and ultimately what the artist intends is not what translates.

Strong mark-making is excellent to see, especially when it is confident and mature. In these works, I believe a more developed figure with some other colour choices (not necessarily realistic, just smarter) would help this, and the other works of this series, to be established as a solid body and not single works that all seem to need reworking and furthering with the paint.
The artist mentions key elements in his statement such as "the figure evidently possesses much physical strength", and "the bold use of colour exudes a great deal of energy". Excellent. To be assertive and knowledgable about what you are painting is substantial, especially in young or early artists who are attempting to carve their niche in the contemporary scene.

technical skill: 4.5
contemporary context: 1.5
documentation: 8

(each out of 10)




The Art Critic: Issue I -----> [link]
The Art Critic: Issue II ----> [link]

this article to give the selected artists more exposure!