Pol Taburet is a visual artist. His work is a heady and iconoclastic mix of references that range from the artist’s own Caribbean background, the region’s syncretic voodoo traditions and belief systems, wider contemporary culture, as well asclassical painting. Born in 1997, the artist has rapidly gained attention with his idiosyncratic painterly style, which he has developed by incorporating the use of airbrushing alongside traditional brush painting with acryliccolors. The formal result is a unique contraposition of textures and finishings, of painstaking detail, “impressionistic” suggestion and symbolism. This double technique, an amalgamation of old and new, can be viewed as symbolic of Taburet’s work as a whole. The freshness of this subject matter, which somehow feels entirely new, combined with an undeniablyyouthful and energetic aesthetic, is underpinned by influences that firmly belong to the traditional canon of art history. From Francis Bacon to Baroque and religious art, these influences are all visible but his work is not subjugated to them. His twisted figures, which often appear as hybrids between human and animal, stand out against starkly abstract backgrounds. Taburet says his subjects speak of life and death, and the passage from oneto the other. In their own way, his paintings hold a spiritual quality that is hard to define, and which might not be immediately apparent. An instinctive artist, Taburet’s themes, forms, compositions and even meaning oftenreveal themselves to him as he paints.
