Grant Yun

Grant Yun, based in California is one of the leading contemporary digital artists pairing both digitally native and physical works. The artist's aesthetic is deeply influenced by the west coast contemporary art esthetic and particularly by David Hockney’s bright and minimalist landscape compositions.  

His latest series, “California” serves as a poignant depiction of his childhood in the Bay Area, evoking distinctive and remarkably intimate experiences of reality and memory allowing the viewer to form an intimate acquaintance with the artist’s home town. Yun is simultaneously the quintessential contemporary artist, who tenaciously embraces technological progress, as well as being influenced by post war, 1980s and the Pop Art Movement to inform and improve his style.

"My practice draws from many art movements from over the past 2 centuries. My work in itself is built on a foundation of realism yet explores nuanced and subtle themes focused on guiding viewers through their own personal emotions, reflections, and memories. " (Grant Yun)

This artwork is a monumental reinterpretation of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper. In reworking one of the most recognisable images in the Western consciousness, Yun powerfully asserts his iconic and distinctive artistic style. The Last Supper presents a dramatic and psychologically complex moment of the earthly and divine. “One of you is about to betray me,” Christ says to the twelve disciples seated around him. With dismayed faces and gestural hands, the disciples react in waves of emotion. Yun uses his signature style of minimalist technics, reducing and simplifying complex forms to reimagine this iconic work. In Yun’s reinterpretation, this consternation is expressed through the darker color palettes, a departure from what might associate with California, as well as 13 cows who are all but a few shadowed by darkness, very few of them stare directly out at the viewer. This representation is undeniably based on Yun’s own personal memories, steeped in distinct American symbols. The Last Supper showcases an extremely mature and refined technique, situating precisionism within a distinctive realm. 

The artist's careful composition invites deeper analysis. The sky, intentionally rendered with ominous cool undertones, casts an air of anticipation over the scene, shockingly in contrast with palettes that are typically used to represent the sun-drenched California mindset. In a stroke of brilliance, horizontal lines dominate the canvas, providing not only a sense of depth but also immersing the viewer within the artwork. This technique creates a compelling tension between the vast expanse of California's landscape and the confined space where the cows reside.