South Africa-born, Mexico-based painter Christiaan Conradie mixes abstraction and the figurative, injecting delicate realism, otherworldly forms, and sculptural elements into the canvas. Influences like Rembrandt, Twombly, and Rubens are part of an ongoing dialogue in Conradie’s work.
“Aged subjects, with folkloric components, serenity and violence, order and chaos, rationality and insanity, hope and despair,” a statement says. “Christiaan wages in this game of contradictions, and in it a vitality is borne through the conjunction of both approaches. This vitality derived from his work is accompanied by a majestic and authentic aesthetic impact. Currently, Christiaan finds himself working on a series of works inspired by his recent prolonged stay in Mexico. After having lived there for a little over three years, he is in the midst of working through this confrontation of multiple realities.”
See more of the artist’s recent paintings below.