Still-life is a bit of a neglected genre nowadays. Korean artist Choe Jeong-hyeok's ‘Natural-Topia’ look so real and fresh, you’d think they’re digital photographs that have just been snapped. His key motif is fruit, and he strives to deliver "still objects that are full of life". Yet, there is something also very unreal about them. Apples ripen in autumn, but his paintings showcase them in winter and spring. Some works show apples and also blossom on the same branches, showing two “realities” at once. Choe refers to this as "virtual existence". The paintings seem to give a true representation of apples, but the fruit is part of a fictional world. All objects are reconstituted in his head and fingertips.
