CJK - The Artist
CJK is an award-winning contemporary figurative artist whose highly collectible work combines the traditions of classical drawing and portraiture with the energy and drama of modern sport.
His training includes figure drawing at Camberwell School of Art and Crafts, oil painting at the Slade School of Fine Art and portraiture at Heatherleys School of Fine Art in London, where observation, drawing and painting from life provided the foundation for his approach to the human figure.
Rooted in the traditions of figurative painting, CJK's work brings those disciplines into a contemporary sporting context. His distinctive style combines realistic figures, dramatic light, expressive mark-making and abstracted backgrounds. Detail is concentrated around the athlete and the decisive moment of action, while surrounding forms dissolve into energetic strokes, colour and texture.
Working across subjects including boxing, football, rugby, cricket, cycling, motorsport, skiing and athletics, CJK approaches sport fundamentally as a study of the human figure in motion.
Where Sport Becomes Art
Sport is filled with moments of extraordinary movement, emotion and intensity. CJK's paintings seek to capture those moments, transforming the action and atmosphere of competition into expressive works of contemporary art.
Across the collection, figurative realism and expressive painting come together. Athletes and sporting environments remain recognisable, while bold colour, energetic brushwork, splashes and abstract passages convey the movement and atmosphere surrounding them.
Detail is deliberately balanced with looser areas of paint, allowing parts of the image to emerge from and sometimes disappear into their surroundings. The intention is not simply to record a sporting event, but to convey something of the speed, tension, physicality and emotion of experiencing it.
Watercolour
The watercolour collection has a lighter, more fluid character. Transparent washes, expressive colour and areas of untouched paper create a sense of movement and immediacy.
Rather than describing every detail, the paintings concentrate attention on the athlete and the defining moment of action. Precise figurative passages sit alongside loose washes, splashes and softened edges, giving the works their distinctive combination of realism and spontaneity.
Oil Painting
The oil paintings have a stronger, more physical presence. Layers of colour, broad brushwork and textured surfaces create depth and intensity, while areas of abstraction heighten the sensation of speed and movement.
The sporting figure remains at the heart of each composition, but the surrounding paint becomes part of the action itself. Figures can emerge from darkness, colour and texture before dissolving back into the painted surface, creating a more atmospheric and cinematic interpretation of sport.
Artistic Influences
CJK's work draws on both traditional and modern figurative painting.
The dramatic figurative tradition of Diego Velázquez, the economy and fluidity of John Singer Sargent, the expressive handling of Nicolai Fechin and Richard Schmid, and the atmospheric qualities associated with J. M. W. Turner are important points of reference.
In his sporting work, the colour, movement and spectacle associated with LeRoy Neiman provide another influence, although CJK frequently employs a darker, more restrained and cinematic palette.
These influences provide a foundation rather than a formula. They come together in a contemporary visual language centred specifically on the athlete, movement and sporting experience.
The Art of Sport
From the intensity of a boxing ring and the speed of a racing cyclist to the atmosphere of a football stadium or the movement of a skier on the mountain, each painting begins with the same idea:
To capture not simply what sport looks like, but what it feels like.