The image above is not a photograph. In fact, it is a photo-realistic oil painting by New York-based Israeli artist Yigal Ozeri. Ozeri is best known for his “large-scale cinematic portraits of young women in vast transcending landscapes” as our friends at Art Republik write. The spirit of the subjects sits within the context of a variety of natural settings: from bountiful rain forests to spartan deserts. Literally thousands of tiny brushstrokes come together to animate Ozeri’s paintings, providing them with remarkable realism, distinctive beauty and seductive power. The viewer is captivated and compelled to gaze into the allegorical domain between reality and fantasy.

Ozeri has been painting for the past 25 years and has gained enormous attention for his meticulously rendered hyperrealist oil paintings. His work is a calibrated balance between the romantic and sexual. Eschewing professional models, with bodies close to perfection, Ozeri focuses on real people in their real environments. His models assume poses and facial expressions reminiscent to those of respected master painters yet are placed in contemporary environments. Art Republik defines this way: “The tension he ignites in his subjects combined with carefully considered compositions magnifies their presence and expression.”

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Olya, 2014, Yigal Ozeri. Oil on canvas

Shown extensively around the world, Ozeri has had solo exhibits in Bologna, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Toronto, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, France, Denmark, and Munich. His work is included on the cover and in the book Photorealism and the Digital Age. He has participated in a travelling show called ’50 Years of Hyperrealistic Painting’ that was showcased in a number of venues including Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, and Museo de Bellas Artes in Bilbao. He is also in the permanent collections of The Whitney Museum of American Art, The McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, The Jewish Museum in New York, The New York Public Library, The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, The Tel Aviv Museum of Art, The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles, and the Albertina in Vienna, among others.

Kato Art Duo in Singapore presents ‘Delicate Beings’, a series of hyperrealism paintings by Yigal Ozeri, showing from now till 14 February 2016. The exhibition will feature a series of photorealistic portraits of young women in nature’s dreamy light set in the midst of beautiful fairytale-like natural environment. In collaboration with Kato Art Duo, Ozeri will also be presenting a special painting of Princess Kako of Akishino with a modern twist.

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Kendel, 2015, Yigal Ozeri. Oil on canvas

For more information, please visit: www.katoartduo.co

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