Carnage 3

You are probably standing a few feet away from the painting to able to see the whole canvas. From here the painting almost looks like a photo. But what happens if you get up really close?

Many painters try to convey a feeling in their paintings. Big fast brushstrokes evoke a sense of action and movement for example. The artist Till Rabus didn’t do that here. This painting was made to look photorealistic. That means the subject was painted as precisely as possible.

These kind of paintings are called hyperrealistic. It is hard to paint something more realistic than reality itself, however that is precisely the goal of hyperrealistic artist. Often they magnify the subject so all the details are suddenly exposed. What also helps is that everything is painted in focus. While humans can only focus at one detail at a time.

One of the most well-known hyperrealistic artists is Richard Estes. The LAM museum also holds one of his paintings in its collection. Where Till often paints food, Estes is known for painting urban scenes of New York.

Checkout, Richard Estes, 2012, collection of the LAM museum

All the paintings of Till are hyperrealistic. However, Till is also fascinated by other art movements. Another painting by Till in the LAM museum strongly resembles one of Dalí’s surreal paintings. This painting is about another movement. Do you know any other movements? And does this painting remind you of something?

Maybe you know the ‘drip paintings’ by Jackson Pollock. He would let paint drip straight from the can onto large canvasses. These paintings are called ‘abstract expressionistic’. Abstract because nothing is recognisably depicted. Expressionistic because the artist wanted to express his or her emotions by painting. It is more about the action of painting than about the final image.

While Till painted this work very realistic and precise, it seems as if he ‘painted’ a abstract expressionistic painting with sauce first. Instead of paint he dripped and messed like Pollock with sauce first. Therefore this painting kind of belongs to two art movements; hyperrealism and abstract expressionism.

Number 5, Jackson Pollock, 1948

Do you recognise all four of the sauces that Till painted?

If Till just made some broad brushstrokes the illusion would quickly disappear. With small brushes he paints every little detail meticulously. Still he works relatively quick. One painting takes about a month to finish.

Can you inherit talent for art? In the Rabus family it seems like it. Till his brother and his father are both famous painters and his mother creates art with textile.