Karel Funk

Karel Funk's portraits of hooded figures. The figures he depicts never fully show their faces or make eye contact, but his exacting and close-up hyper-realist style gives us a sense of closeness, verging on intimacy, with these anonymous individuals. His work resists the idea that a portrait might tell us something about a person, preferring to make us think about how close you can get to someone without really knowing them at all. His ultra crisp and precise painting technique also tends to hide itself, appearing photographic instead.Using acrylic paint Funk builds his portraits through a glazing technique, often taking months to complete one painting. The concept that he uses to paint, is pretty intriguing and different.