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Tjalf Sparnaay The Bigger Picture
Published by Waanders, february 2024
Authors: Karin van Lieverloo & Simon McKeown
Tjalf Sparnaay, internationally acclaimed artist known for his iconic oil paintings of fried eggs, hamburgers and more, will be celebtrating the 40th anniversary of his art career in 2024. In this book, Sparnaay looks back on his artistic journey, his passion for painting, and what comes next.
English/Dutch
24 x 28 cm
192 pages
ca. 125 illustrations
ISBN 9789462625266
€ 29,95 hardback
Tjalf Sparnaay Delicious Paintings
Published October 17, 2019
SOLD OUT
96 pages
70 illustrations
Dutch/English
ISBN 9789462622760
Publisher: Waanders & De Kunst
Solo exhibition Tjalf Sparnaay Delicious Paintings, museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
URBAN WORKS OF ART, Tjalf Sparnaay | photographs
Published by Don't touch the Artworks, The Netherlands
120 pages Full Color, 24 x 30 cm
authors a.o. Dr. Simon McKeown,Tjalf Sparnaay
€ 24,95
Foreword
Urban Works of Art is about recognizable and abstract images I encountered more or less coincidentally in recent years during my travels, or simply wandering through the city. The purchase of a digital camera in 2006 changed and intensified my interest in photography. As a result, there were hardly any restrictions; the display worked wonderfully to frame the images, and its small size meant that I always had the camera with me. The various series emerged automatically over the years, created entirely for the fun of making photos; I had absolutely no plan ahead of time. In those years, it was not my intention to publish or display any of that work; that would have placed an unpleasant, inhibiting pressure on the process of photographing. The freedom of working in photography is very dear to me, not least as a counterpart to painting, which demands a much more stringent discipline in business and artisticity.
However, the time has come. Frank Bernaducci invited me to put together my first photo exhibition. The work has developed its own distinctive signature and is now matured and ready for presentation. We opted for a broad cross-section of artistic urban images in which both recognizability and abstraction produce a contemporary pictorial voyage of discovery.
The four series in this book and presented at the exhibition all share a key feature: they all show works of art, sometimes in purely esthetic photography and sometimes in a figurative sense. I am entirely familiar with exploring the boundaries between photography and painting, as you can see in the near-abstract Graffitical Archeology and Colorfield Painting series, in which the image emerges almost at the molecular level and its meanings could head in any direction. Time also plays a role in WallFlowers, expressed in more recognizable art that third-party artists left on walls. The beautiful, unpolished rawness of Urban Jungle zooms out even more to a sometimes graphic, but in this case often spatial representation of the monumental nature, the humor and the shadow side of imperfection.
Tjalf Sparnaay 2016
36 pages A4 Catalogue of the show at Bernarducci Meisel Gallery New York, available on request at the gallery
Closer- het megarealisme van Tjalf Sparnaay
The book Closer- Het Megarealisme van Tjalf Sparnaay, with texts by Ronald Plasterk and Jan Six, will be published by Uitgeverij Waanders & de Kunst to accompany an exhibition in Museum de Fundatie 2015, The Netherlands. 162 Pages, full color. Available at the bookstore and online.
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Getting Closer, a documentary film by Hester Hagemeijer about the art of Tjalf and his motivations
The movie Getting Closer tells the tale of Tjalf Sparnaay’s drive to paint and be something exceptional. Paradoxically, to do this he chooses everyday items, which have never been painted in such a megarealistic fashion.
In his studio we look over his shoulder to see how he works. In the Rijksmuseum he tells us how he has been inspired by 17th century Dutch art. We follow him at exhibits and openings in the Netherlands, but in New York as well, where he tells us about a can of Coca-Cola he found and his fascination with imperfection.
Jan Six, Ronald Plasterk and Ralph Keuning among others share their experiences.
Getting Closer brings us closer to Tjalf Sparnaay’s work, which can be found in collections over the world. He is considered one of the most influential hyperrealistic artists of the moment.
The music accompanying this documentary has been especially written and performed by Tjalf Sparnaay himself.
View the DVD box, fillmstills and making of.
CD out of the blue, release april 2014
The cd 'out of the blue' with Rob jacobs, tenor sax and Tjalf Sparnaay, grand piano contains very atmospheric cool jazz. All compositions are genuine and recorded live in Studio 2A, Hilversum, Holland.
CD on iTunes
CD on amazon.com
CD in box: bestel hier
Exactitude/Hyperrealist Art Today
On the cover Girl with a pearl earring in Plastic uit 2003, 75 x 60 cm, oil/linen
The book Exactitude: Hyperrealistic Art Today was published in 2009 in cooperation with Plus One Gallery. This standard reference work, published by Thames & Hudson and written by John Russell Taylor, includes an extensive section on Sparnaay's work, which also features prominently on the cover. Exactitude describes and illustrates the work of fifteen contemporary international hyperrealists and is a worthy successor to the widely acclaimed standard work entitled Photorealism, by Louis K. Meisel, New York.
Mega-Realism
Published in 2002, sold out