Unreal City,
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.

TS Eliot

There’s an eerie beauty to Kevin Specht’s paintings of commuters filing to and from work. The figures, familiar and mysterious, pass through the shifting glow of dawn and dusk to shut out the light, and close themselves in their cubicles and offices. The walkers maintain a steady distance, with the studied loneliness of strangers who see each other every day, day after day. And yet there is a near-glow radiating from the figures and illuminating the space between them, suggesting the possibility of humanity and of connection.

 Kevin is a self taught artist whose haunting paintings explore themes of alienation within crowds of people living their daily lives. Referencing photographs and film stills, Specht’s works are autobiographical and relate to his feelings from when he was commuting back and forth from work. The recurring faceless figures that can be found across his paintings attest to the felt anonymity of the system we are all a part of. Specht takes inspiration from a range of artists such as Jules de Balincourt, Peter Doig, and Nicole Eisenman.

Current Exhibition “Strangers” showing at Nassima Landau in Tel Aviv February 5th thru March 3rd, 2022

See more of Kevin Specht’s work at kevinspecht.com and on Instagram.