Please meet Southafrican painter Corné Eksteen, also known as XTN, this week. He was was born at Zastron, South Africa in1973 and studied towards a BA in Fine Art at the University of Pretoria. Already presented in exhibitions in Europe and the US, he is renown for his work on portraits.

He says about his own work:

“Through a process of drawing on conventions of figurative, abstract and pattern painting, the works attempt to visually dissect, deconstruct and reconstruct the subject matter in the pursuit of an understanding of the dynamics and transient nature of the 21st century psyche.

They are intended to evoke discussion on the idea of personal identity as a series of disjointed concepts in a perpetual state of flux and the continues search for a distinction between truth and perception.”

This is all true. But I like the tenderness behind behind the brutish, broken down imagery. And I also like the titles, he gives his pictures…