Artist: Tim Kent - 4me4you

4me4you features - ‘HISTORIES IN FLUX’.

ABOUT ME

4me4you recently had the pleasure of visiting JD Malat Gallery to view "Histories in Flux," a new series of oil paintings by the acclaimed artist Tim Kent.

MY PROCESS

The paintings exhibited at JD Malat Gallery are reflections of what the artist describes as "playing with art history." These fragmented yet visually coherent compositions of vast interiors, sculptures, historical figures, and classical nudes blur, disconnect, and reshape before the viewer's eyes, critically engaging with the systemic power structures that Western art history has fortified, but which contemporary art must continuously challenge.

“HISTORIES IN FLUX”

  • “Histories in Flux” presents twelve psychologically charged portraits, architectural depictions of estates, and cultural institutions that highlight key issues related to class, access, privacy, and consumption. 

  • Kent both resists and highlights the conformity inherent in traditional painting genres, attuned to contemporary issues. His work transforms and dissects Baroque and Georgian interior spaces, revealing an ominous past with its own dimensional terrain.
  • Kent’s playful engagement with genre—specifically the nude, portraiture, interiors, and narrative painting—results in the distortion of old art historical systems, merging tradition with the contemporary. This imbues his work with subtle criticisms that sever traditional roles of authority.

  • His grid-like fragmentations suggest an empirical reaction from the viewer, turning the once harmonious genre of chamber painting into a realm of architectural dissonance. As Kent states, “The perspective grid becomes a visual metaphor for the interconnectivity of how we construct our visual world and it’s influences across every level of existence.”

  • These obscured historic scene scapes challenge our understanding of history. Busts, portraits, monuments, museum spaces, and estates serve as vessels for thematic parallels deeply rooted in classism, elitism, and power dynamics. Through his portrayal of these traditional art historical archetypes, Kent exposes the controversial and often overlooked narratives woven into the fabric of art history’s canon.

  • While institutional spaces proudly showcase their collections as symbols of cultural education and progress, beneath this veneer lies a concealed tapestry of colonial dominance, imperial knowledge systems, class stratification, and labor obfuscation.
  • Kent’s compositions unearth these underlying complex networks, dismantling and deconstructing familiar symbols of tradition. By layering their veneer of opulence and allure with shadows and uncertainties, he transforms these once-celebrated spaces into stark objects that challenge viewers to confront the uncomfortable realities obscured by centuries of glorification.

Artist: Tim Kent

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