Hyperrealist art has many challenges, such as realism.

Using the works of photorealists who aimed to reproduce photographs so that the human eye could not distinguish between the original and the resultant painting, hyperrealism took it further by making their work more literal and incorporating photographic limitations such as depth of field, perspective and focus. They developed ways of including narrative, charm and emotion into painting, not leaving it bereft of “personality”. And this poses the problem how? Some will argue that because hyperrealist art creates a false reality, it requires a high level of skill and therefore becomes just a showmanship of skill.

I guess the core question at all of this is then: should art (or even, is it at all possible) “work” context free, i.e. with no knowledge other than itself about it? If I’m reading you right, you are saying that perhaps hyperrealism is really just an exploration of this question (and others) and in this sense is valid art… right?

I agree with you that “a photograph doesn’t offer what the actual view of whatever is photographed has to offer.” Neither does the hyperrealistic painting. Hyperrealism differes with photography solely in how it’s made, so choosing to do hyperrealistic paintings/drawings by necessity highlights the creation over imagery.

Hyperrealist art is a new type of art.

Hyper-realism is one of the biggest and most successful artistic genres of recent contemporary history. Known also as photorealism in painting, but even expanding to sculpture, this genre was born from a need to redefine Art itself. At the same time, in the 70s we already had Abstract Expressionism, Colour Field Art and Pop Art. These movements were pushing the boundaries of painting and art.

Developed as an independent art style/movement in the US and Europe in the 1970s, hyperrealism is a genre of painting and sculpture that bears strong resemblance to a high resolution photograph. Often referred to as an advancement of photorealism (a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist…

Hyperrealism has proven to be a powerful art genre as it captures reality, and this can be done to recreate stories that play on a variety of human emotions. This is what makes it an art form that should be appreciated, especially if you are looking for art that has a deeper and more subliminal meaning.

Hyperrealist art is controversial.

I posted this originally on a Quora answer that someone gave to the question: Why is Photorealism and Hyperrealism a genre in painting? I didn’t like her response to this, nor most of the others on the page, so I have done my best with my limited literary vocabulary to discuss my grievances with hyperrealist art.

Hyperrealism takes tremendous effort, incredible discipline, and skill – a lot of skill. There is no reason why these works of art should not be celebrated, as they accurately capture the essence of what is real; they evoke emotion and are a testament to the abilities of human beings. Some critics label hyperrealists as obsolete, but these are the individuals that miss the point. Art does not have to have a purpose. What you get with hyperrealism is what you are trying to escape when looking at art: reality. And here you are given an image that has been translated from something that already exists.

Hyperrealistic art to me feels like it simply takes the life and joy out of painting. I’m sure some artists enjoy it, or it wouldn’t be so common, but for me it really just represents the opposite of reason why I paint. Rendering every detail simply because they’re visible in reality is missing so much of what painting is about to me. It feels overlaboured, brutal, and harsh. It also seems that less knowledge and understanding people have of art history, the more they find hyperrealistic art “impressive”. “It looks just like a photo!” ad nauseum.