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EVENT DESCRIPTION
Saatchi Yates is pleased to present Will St. John’s (b. 1983, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA) debut solo exhibition in Asia. The New York-based artist merges classical realism with contemporary narrative, exploring beauty, transformation, and art history in the digital age. With a seamless fusion of the uncanny, his paintings introduce strange and unexpected elements into the realm of classical figuration—juxtaposing opulent, meticulously rendered compositions with otherworldly details that disrupt expectations and heighten their dreamlike quality.
St. John’s exploration of human-animal hybridity gives rise to pseudo-mythological figures that exist between reality and fantasy. One of his most striking works features a blue-tinged figure with feline-like eyes and sculpture ally softened cheeks, embodying a transformation that blurs portraiture and creaturely invention. Deeply influenced by Picasso’s Blue Period, he channels the era’s melancholic introspection, reinterpreting it through his aesthetic language. This approach is rooted in his early training, where he meticulously copied Louvre master- pieces, absorbing the techniques of the greats before distilling their essence into his contemporary vision.
While rooted in tradition, St. John employs a process that merges digital reinterpretation with painting, generating preliminary images that he later refines in oil. This interplay between art history and contemporary techniques is evident in Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (after Picasso), 2024, inspired by Picasso’s portrait of Carlos Casagemas. Reimagining Blue Period paintings with a porcelain-like, glossy aesthetic, St. John meticulously translates these warped, reflective surfaces into oil, emphasizing his ongoing exploration of image materiality and the intersection of digital and traditional painting.
At the heart of St. John’s practice is a dialogue between the living and the dead, acknowledging that “most new art is in conversation with dead artists.” Rather than imitation, his work reframes historical echoes within a contemporary lens, where identity, performance, and artifice intersect. Balancing refinement and rebellion, he moves beyond the strictures of classical realism while embracing its techniques. Trained in Old Master precision, yet shaped by the energy of New York’s contemporary scene, his paintings are both intimate and theatrical, decadent yet deeply human.
