Tal R / The Pyjamas
Apr 14 – May 20, 2011
In The Pyjamas, TAL R presents 13 new paintings that reaffirm his versatile reputation as a painter.
Exhibitionism and the stage are recurrent themes in TAL R’s works, such as in reference to the circus in Voulez vouz coucher avec moi and in Man One Giant. In other works we, the viewers, participate in the scenes as voyeurists looking in on a parade of characters and semi-hidden spectacles that unfold before our eyes. This is the case when observing the temptress in Girl from Wall Nut, the provocatively bent woman in The Behind, and the photographer facing the viewer in The Camera. In terms of imagery, TAL R’s paintings amalgamate both high and low sources – ranging from music, cinematography and quotations from art history to urban night life and street graffiti.
Whereas in his earlier works the artist applied oil paint directly from the tube, in his new works he uses a unique mixture of rabbit skin glue and pigments. Following the Renaissance tradition of coating the canvas with animal skin glue, the artist applies this mixture directly onto the unprimed canvas, and in some instances then draws on the painted surface with wax crayons.