Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Hyperrealist Kazuhiro Tsuji’s Larger than Life Portrait of Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo, Mexico's most famous woman artist best known for her numerous self-portraits, is portrayed once more as hyperrealist Kazuhiro Tsuji's latest subject. Tsuji, featured here on our blog and in Hi-Fructose Vol. 35, has become well known for his larger than life portraits of celebrities, artists, presidents and other popular figures. Rendered with a heightened realism, Tsuji's Frida is made of resin, platinum silicone, and other materials by the same technique that he once practiced as a special effects makeup artist.

Frida Kahlo, Mexico’s most famous woman artist best known for her numerous self-portraits, is portrayed once more as hyperrealist Kazuhiro Tsuji’s latest subject. Tsuji, featured here on our blog and in Hi-Fructose Vol. 35, has become well known for his larger than life portraits of celebrities, artists, presidents and other popular figures. Rendered with a heightened realism, Tsuji’s Frida is made of resin, platinum silicone, and other materials by the same technique that he once practiced as a special effects makeup artist. Frida’s self-portraits often expressed the emotional effects of pain, loss and tragedy in her life. She died suddenly in summer of 1954, soon after turning 47, and her work was not widely acclaimed until decades after. Tsuji’s incarnation of her is not the tragic one that we have come to know- she feels more bright and uplifted as two gigantic golden arms gently raise her up. At his Facebook, where he posted these photos, Tsuji commented “Viva la Vida”, meaning “long live life”. She will be on display by Copro Gallery at the Scope Miami Beach fair this week from December 1st through 6th.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
Kevin Peterson's subjects exist somewhere between a wintery city and sunny Houston, where the artist is currently based. Do a web search on his art, and the response is polarizing. Hyperrealism has become a controversial art form- most admire the excruciating detail, while others disagree with copying tags or photographs. Without question, Petersons' portraits of children in a graffiti-colored world are emotional and ironic. His current show at Thinkspace gallery, "Remnants", portrays his own fantasy-urban jungle.
Using silicone, wood, resin, actual hair, and marble, Mexican sculptor Ruben Orozco crafts realistic depictions of famous figures. Created in varying scales, these entrancing figures have gone viral for their eerie reflection of humanity. He's created sculptures depicting Frida Kahlo, Pope Francis, and other historical figures. The work may remind you of other sculptors of realistic figures, like Ron Mueck and Kazuhiro Tsuji.
Korean sculptor Xooang Choi's sculptures of bodies and imaginary creatures are often described as hyper-realistic, but they are also surreal in their elements of fantasy and nightmarish distortion. We've featured both his most imaginative and more graphic visions on our blog, sculptures that explore themes of destruction, transformation and re-assemblage. To Choi, the body is a vessel through which we perceive and express ourselves, and one that provides him with an ideal medium to explore the possibilities of the human condition.
Berlin-based American artist James Bullough splinters and fractures hyper-realistic paintings of women to open spaces through which complex and unfinished stories are revealed. The vibrancy of skin tone and naturalistic musculature in Bullough's technique were learned through an intensive study of Old Master paintings. Bullough's interest in Old Masters is also evident in the way in which several of his nude subjects stare at the viewer, while taking care to keep their faces at least partially concealed.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List