We've long admired the work of Philip Barlow, the South African artist who tricks us with his incredible oil paintings that look like "bokeh" effect photographs. You know, when the lens is out-of-focus to deliberately create appealing blurred lights. His latest series, which is due to go on show at Galerie LeRoyer in Montréal this summer, continues to look at some of our favourite street scenes from cities around the world, New York City being a running theme. As the gallery puts it: "Philip reminds us that even in a broken world, where people often have lost hope, corruption is rife and cynicism dwells we still have hope and beauty do exist. His primary intention is to lift the eyes and to elevate a moment that is seemingly ordinary. He endlessly discovers and explores the beauty and the sublime in the mundane. He uses his camera to capture that elusive moment when the magic happens and shape, form and colour relations dance like jewels. He plays with abstraction but continues to explore realism and keep us close to the recognisable, his intention is never to alienate but to rather invite the viewer into the image." Philip himself describes his work as a step towards abstraction. He is interested in "capturing the moment", a millisecond in time when everything lines up perfectly. 

Known for his trademark-style oil paintings that are never quite in focus, cape town-based artist philip barlow depicts a world in which figures and objects are seen solely for their interaction with light. In doing so, Barlow illustrates scenes of beaches and cities that appear as if taken by camera, positioned outside the depth of field so that the lens only captures the sources of light or the areas in which it is reflected. In Barlow’s latest series, night, the artist depicts "out-of-focus" scenes of cities overlaid with blurry orbs of confetti-like light. "The figures in the landscape serve as carriers and reflectors of the light that falls upon them" Barlow states. "Bathed in the luminosity, it is my hope that they would become more beautiful. To me, light is the ultimate subject because it embodies the pinnacle of all reality."

Cape Town-based artist Philip Barlow paints abstracted depictions of the cityscapes at night, blurring the focus of street lamps and headlights the way our eyes or a photographer’s lens might when adjusting to a city’s bright, multi-colored lights. In this way, Barlow paints from perception rather than reality, showcasing the beautiful ways we process our daily surroundings. In the foreground, the paintings feature overlapping orbs of white, red, and blue light, which obscure blurred buildings, cars, and signs that occupy the dimly painted background. “The figures in the landscape serve as carriers and reflectors of the light that falls upon them,” explains Barlow. “Bathed in the luminosity, it is my hope that they would become more beautiful. To me, light is the ultimate subject because it embodies the pinnacle of all reality.”

You might already be familiar with the beautiful work of Philip Barlow. His trademark-style oil paintings are never quite in focus, as though he has taken a photograph but forgotten to adjust the lens. The South African artist usually gives us summer scenes from the beach or city. For his latest series, Night, he brings us seductive cityscapes that contained blurred lights, creating those appealing colourful spots that we might capture when the camera is struggling to focus in low light. "Although I work within a long tradition of landscape painting," says Philip, "my depiction of the 'seen' landscape is simply a vehicle through which I navigate the territory of another nature. A landscape less ordinary; where the line between the physical and the spiritual realm has seemingly been removed. However, these scenarios are not intended to be of a surreal nature. Hopefully, they will seem curiously familiar and convincingly real."