Tjalf Sparnaay
Tjalf Sparnaay's paintings of simple objects from daily life rendered in a Hyper-Realistic manner are distinct, clear, and joyous. The artist gives reality an added push. His realism is penetrating, presenting us with the recognizable, almost boring reality of everyday life in a way we cannot avoid on a large confrontational scale. His work leads us to the surprising discovery that the visual harmony of things is dictated not as the consumer society would have us believe, by their perfection, but by their imperfection, their whimsicality and unpredictability. He kneads reality, letting it run through his fingers, giving it form, injecting in it the subjective and the unpredictable.
Sparnaay works in oil in the most refined tradition of hyper-realistic
painting, combined with the unique viewpoint of the classic17th century Dutch
painters. The objects he portrays are painted in an almost idealized, surreal
environment. Ethereal light suffuses scene. The object itself, often of the
most mundane sort takes on an iconic meaning. He paints in the tradition of
the Dutch Golden Age, re-written in contemporary story lines.