The Art of Thought
26 September – 31 October 2015
The mind - the most potent tool known to mankind. It is used by the philosopher to ponder metaphysics and by the artist to create visual images that lead to thought and inspiration. So it is only fitting that the two fields of human endeavour should be brought together as friendly bedfellows. Kaprielov has done just that. His extraordinarily agile and, yet, very precise brushwork has conjured up on canvas a collection of some of the most influential thinkers of centuries past so that we may retain a modicum of cognition, lest we forget the contribution that these fellows have made to the development of humanity throughout history, leading us to where we are now. The works are straightforward painterly interpretations of likenesses found on Google, and not an attempt to visually represent philosophical concepts of the thinkers.
In most of the paintings the ice-cold precision of the philosopher’s outlook is nicely balanced out with the warmth of palette. During his formative years, Kaprielov spent countless hours in Leningrad’s Hermitage Museum contemplating somewhat yellowish old master works and came to firmly believe that a truly good oil painting should be yellow.
Sam Kaprielov, David Hume, 2015