Nfn kalyan has been one of my favorite artists for over a year, i bumped into him by complete accident on instagram. I saw a close up of one of his paintings. The detail and light remained me of the old Italian masters. I couldn’t help but go into his page and look into more of his pieces. His artwork spoke to me in a way that I have seen before. He was putting in context art history paintings and sculptures into event and historical characters .
His compositions are of the busy one in the Sistine chapel, the structure of his painting reminds me of Caravaggio's set up and lighting management. The context is pop culture meets myths and history told by other artists, he puts a focal character or persona and it’s up to the viewer to make deductions and criticisms. One of my favorite pieces is “Jackson Pollock's fucking cigarette” he references old masters, the chaos of war, the emotions of times through art and humanity’s paint through this oil on canvas.
He puts black and brown people on a pedestal , front and center of his paintings, he plays with the idea or old hierarchy , he defies it in the most regal way. He works on thrypstics and several panels that tell a story, intricate, colorful, busy and complex. He plays with animations and constantly has an opinion on other artists, he's politically critical, people find him offensive , and call him insensitive for his subject matter.
He plays with hierarchy scale, and he even does cartoons, black and white with realism, on the same paintings. His artwork is what I identify with the most.putting christian deities along with Hinduism, he uses Frida Kahlo's painting idea for “ what the water gave us”. I admire him and I hope one day to see his work in person.
