César Piette – Hyper Plastic Realism

I guess an important element in my work is the craft. I do want to make something with my hands even if it’s modeling with software.

In creating a jaw-dropping, hyper-plastic universe that lures viewers into a territory where conventional painting merges with modern technology and tools, Cesar Piette nurtures and maintains respect for classical art traditions. As he completely removes brush marks from the surface of his paintings, insists on smiling sitters, and offers his sketches, actual digital files, as NFT originals, Piette pushes the established medium and its hierarchies into new heights, or as the more conservative among us might argue, way down to some clever new lows.

Sasa Bogojev: When we spoke the first time a few years back, you mentioned trying to make “the worst painting” that you could, and this resulted in your current style. Please elaborate on what that painting included or excluded.

Cesar Piette: I do believe that my works tackle the idea of what an acceptable painting should be. If I had to describe them, I would say that they are color-saturated, illusionistic, without marks or textures, flat, cartoony, non-narrative, and self-referential. Presented like this it sounds a bit scary, and it’s not the archetype of paintings we expect. I can’t develop each point, but to me, the two most disturbing points are the absence of marks on one hand, and the cute imagery on another.