Tag: igor pjörrt

Igor Pjörrt – Self-Portrait (2017)

Pjörrt is unnervingly good at what he does.

I have compared his work to Lina Scheynius before but this makes it clear that while it’s easy to see how one could make that association, he’s really been working in rather the opposite direction.

Everything about this screams passionate Caravaggio homage.

I mean the argument holds up to scrutiny if you only consider Pjörrt‘s use of red and his clear favoring of tenebrism. But to my eye the above image is exactly what I picture in my head when I think of Caravaggio’s paintings–something exactly halfway between the later version of Boy Bitten by a Lizard and Boy with a Basket of Fruit.

Igor Pjörrt – Dying Star (2015)

My first thought is how this is riffing on Lina Scheynius.

And I say riffing on as opposed to ripping off with intent–the distinction is the same as the difference between stealing like an artist and mere mimicry.

Where Scheynius is interested in documenting light specifically and this frequently manifests as attention to the relationship of light to her body, self-portraiture is less destination than familiar landmark along the pathway.

Pjörrt, on the other hand, seems from the outset more interested in portraiture. Light, or more correctly low-light, does figure prominently in his work–and you should seriously browse his archive because the way he uses minimal ambient light is exquisitely masterful.

The only criticism I have is the erotic works tends to diminish the formal considerations of the more cinematic images by adopting awkwardly, contrived poses. Consider this self-conscious tangle of bodies vs a more legible and evocative image which retains a sense of oddity about the mechanics of how the body’s relate to one another.

Source: igorpjorrt