Exhibition ‘Delicious Paintings’
The exhibition "Delicious Paintings" by Tjalf Sparnaay has been extended until March 1, 2020. The internationally renowned artist amazes audiences with his hyperrealistic paintings of extremely enlarged foods, such as a fried egg or a crispy salad sandwich. The paintings amaze and astonish the viewer with their extreme precision and craftsmanship. Sparnaay is also showing new photographs which, after being exhibited at the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery in New York in 2017, are now on display in the Netherlands for the first time. The exhibition offers a broad overview of Tjalf Sparnaay's surprising oeuvre, which is characterized by his original view of everyday things.
About Tjalf Sparnaay
Sparnaay (Haarlem, 1954) distinguishes himself through the extreme magnification of reality and the transfer of an image to canvas with photographic precision. In his paintings, he chooses to show only a small part of a much larger concept. In this way, he offers a new perspective on everyday life and the meaning of beauty. Tjalf Sparnaay's works build on the Dutch tradition of meticulously and realistically painted foodstuffs from the Golden Age. His use of bright colors and eye for detail and refinement are reminiscent of Vermeer, while the use of light in his paintings refers to the interplay of light and shadow in the work of Rembrandt. The exhibition 'Delicious Paintings' at Museum JAN brings all these paintings together. An exhibition catalog has been published by Waanders.
New work that has not been shown before: Urban Photography
In addition to his paintings, Sparnaay has worked on a photographic oeuvre that is being shown for the first time in this exhibition. He has created beautiful photo series that, like his paintings, explore the boundaries between painting and photography. One example is the series 'Graffitical Archeology', with meticulously cut close-ups of the Berlin Wall, reminiscent of abstract painting with a deeper historical layer. Sparnaay: "Over the years, I have seen how a gloomy and desolate piece of concrete was sprayed with graffiti by perhaps a thousand artists. It was transformed into one of the most colorful and liberating places in the world. By photographing this process, I was able to create a new work of art and show it to the world." The so-called Urban Jungle photos show the context in which the Urban Photography series was created. Sparnaay photographs rugged places where he finds special gems among abandoned buildings and rusty industrial architecture. The lighting and the play of light and dark in the image create an effect that can also be found in Sparnaay's paintings.
In the Dutch television program ‘Nu te Zien!’ (Now Showing!), Cathelijne Broers, director of the Hermitage Amsterdam and the Nieuwe Kerk, visits the exhibition Delicious Paintings – Tjalf Sparnaay.