Kilo Barnes is an unusual contemporary artist, in that he hates contemporary art. This gives his artworks a frisson that is often missing in artworks made by his contemporaries.
“Contemporary art is terrible, isn’t it?” Kilo told us by telephone from the Paris atelier where he has moved to escape the contemporary art scene in Hoxton where he grew up – his mother is the sculptor Sally Bevington, famed for her interpretation of The Last Supper in Stilton. “There is no other way to describe it. Modern art as well, all awful. So I have a unique workflow to make my pieces, called in the French, repaintage. I buy contemporary art paintings by famous artists from galleries and auction houses. Then I completely obliterate the image I have bought with white paint. I build up layer upon layer of paint, rather in the style of Rembrandt or Froussard, until the terrible contemporary art can no longer be seen.
“I actually believe the rot set in with the modernists, and my most recent piece is called Repaintage 556 (Mondrian) in which I have completely painted over a small Piet Mondrian painting that I bought at auction for $7 million. The now completely blank canvas is available for collectors to buy for just $8 million. I don’t just sell to anyone though, I need to check any potential purchaser’s current collection. If there is any contemporary art in it then I offer to paint over it all for just $50,000 per piece. If they do not accept my offer they are unable to purchase any of my repaintage works.”
Any collectors interested in adding a Kilo Barnes repaintage piece to their collection is welcome to get in touch. (We recommend hiding any contemporary art you own when he comes for his reconnaissance visit). Having recently repaintaged a Damian Hirst, an Edward Froppas and a n.m.pante, Kilo is working on his next contemporary art show with Pimlico Wilde entitled “Saving the World from Contemporary Art”.