What is "pseudorealism"

n. A dramatic technique in which an altered view of reality is presented as being real.

Pseudorealism, also spelled pseudo-realism, is a term used in a variety of discourses, connoting any artistic and dramatic technique, or work of art, film and literature based on non-realistic ideas but intended to be received by the viewer as based on reality.

The term Pseudorealism has a parallel in mathematical field of representation theory where, a (pseudo real) or Quaternionic representation is a group representation that is equivalent to its complex conjugates. This idea that something unreal can still give the impression of the real has caused the adoption of Pseudorealism as a new genre of art.

Much though Pseudorealistic ideas were found in artworks since ages, as a distinct genre of art, it has come to be popularised only in the early 1990s by Indian artist Devajyoti Ray. However since its inception, the style attracted international attention and has been referred by many as the most original of art styles that have come out of India in the present century.