Realism is alive and kicking

I found this beautiful painting by Kris Knight through Industrial Feces (a very good site by the way, well worth browsing through the archives!)

The face of this young girl somehow reminds me of Walker Evans photography. It’s realism with a sense of poetry. Her facial expression is beautifully translated, and it’s as if she looks straight out of the canvas. But, like Evans, Kris Knight manages to go beyond making a simple portrait. It looks like he has been trying to paint what the girl in the picture wants to be rather than what she actually is.

I don’t know much about the artist, but from the other work I’ve seen on his web site I have to say he struck gold with this one. Sadly, the rest isn’t nearly as good. I guess it goes to show you that a single master piece doesn’t make a master.