Mark Rutledge

Mark Rutledge is one of New Zealand’s leading Hyperrealists. This Auckland based artist takes to the canvas to depict his heroes, the people who inspire him. As a self-proclaimed 'rocker', it is often his musical heroes that he chooses to immortalise in paint. For his most recent work, Californian musician Brant Bjork the drummer for rock band Vista Chino became the subject matter.

Rutledge followed a lengthy process to create the piece, first meeting with and photographing Brant with the help of photographer Petrice Rhodes. Next the photograph was interpreted onto canvas in pencil before layers of oil paint were built up to achieve the immense realism. Rutledge worked on this piece over two years putting in thousands of hours at the canvas and using magnifying glasses to render tiny regions of the image. If it wasn’t for the slight brush marks in the clear varnishing of the work you would find no indication that this is a painting. As seeing-is-believing, he captured the process on a time-lapse recorded on his phone.

Rutledge’s paintings serve as a pause, a magnification of a moment in time, offering a profoundly personal perspective on his subjects. The laborious effort taken to render an icon comes to speak of celebrity culture in general and the accumulated hours of imagery the average person is exposed to through the proliferation of media.

The first hyperrealists emerged in the 1970s in the US and UK, with artists such as Chuck Close and Ralph Goings. Technological and photographic advancements in recent years have since seen a refinement of the hyper realistic technique, improving the level of definition and sharpness of the paintings. The approach continues to allure viewers as it challenges the limits of human vision.

Mark has been a finalist in the prestigious Adam Portraiture Award and the NZ Wallace Art Awards.

Mark Rutledge is a contemporary Hyperrealist who has set out to immortalise his musical heores in oil paint. His paintings have to be seen to be believed.