Sam Kaprielov
Photo art that'll make you look twice
Born in Latvia, Sam Kaprielov began his art studies in Leningrad from the age of five. He moved to London via the Côte d'Azur, and now has an exhibition at Paradise Row gallery. He illustrates in a strange style which falls somewhere between photo-realism and 40s poster-art.
Collecting parts from found photographs and recombining them in seamless gesso collage, he eliminates any trace of their source. They seem like a single contiguous scene - that is, until you try to make any sense of them.
Hung far apart - neat and sort of matter-of-factly, Kaprielov’s works have been compared with the mid-twentieth century colourful commercial illustrations of artists such as Norman Rockwell and Norman Saunders – probably understandable as Kaprielov himself began his career as a billboard painter. But these pictures include an obviously surreal twist. Kaprielov’s soft pastel on gessoed plywood pieces sustain a fantastical, yet simple form - snapshots of bizarre and disconcerting realities.
Like weird dreams, Kaprielov's paintings only make sense from a distance. Each part apparently has meaning, but combined they hold little coherent sense. All painted in stylised monochrome, they kind of disguise their weirdness with a normalising retro feel.
Visit Paradise Row before 15 Feb to see Sam Kaprielov: Shore Leave. More info at www.paradiserow.com
