Although figurative modes of paintings were continuously declared irrelevant during the 20th century as opposed to abstraction, there were artists who experimented with innovative approaches to portrait figurative subjects: for instance, Fernando Botero and his abundant shapes revisited in an original manner the figurative tradition of the history of art; or Marc Chagall transformed people of his native village and his life into colourful dreams. In recent years, figurative art has seen a remarkable resurgence in the acclaimed practices of artists such as George Condo through a cubist twist and Manolo Valdés that ingeniously reinterprets masters of the past. This video explores a selection of artists and artworks that are representative of the legacy of figuration from the 1960s to today.
Date: 26 June
Time: 6pm BST / 1pm EST
Watch it here: Opera Gallery Instagram