Georges Mazilu – La chandelle verte
In a mysteriously beautiful marriage of Northern Renaissance style painting and haunting surrealism, Georges Mazilu’s painting explores and reconciles his past—deconstructing how his Romanian childhood has influenced his unique and curious aesthetic and subject matter. Beginning with abstract, organic sketch strokes, Mazilu morphs ambiguous base shapes into human figures in a stunning amalgamation of his skill as a classically-trained painter, and in his vision as an ambitiously contemporary creator. In every piece from Mazilu, traces of the technical expertise learned at the prestigious Grigorescu Institute of Fine Arts clash harmoniously with the influences of the modern art world as they were first introduced to Eastern Europe, catalyzing a distinctive, bewitching depiction of his distorted figures.
Battle, that is both enchantingly stylistic and intensely contemplative, can be witnessed in Mazilu’s paintings: an interesting controversy between the capacity to speak to the navigation of his near-Soviet upbringing, his voice as an artist, and the nuances of art itself as a therapeutic practice. Ultimately, this speaks to the dynamic push-pull of the Romanian moment.
Mazilu’s process explores finding reason in shape and dimension, but nevertheless with a final appearance rooted in his mastery of realism. Furthermore, his medium brings into question the functionality of material, as his acrylic depictions closely resemble the behavior of traditional, oil portraiture. This developmental process, constructed from these controversies, as described by the artist himself, “permits [him] to sound [his] unconscious by developing the signs into harmonious structures…a mirroring of [his] present state of mind.” The human forms that emerge from the ambiguous universes he elegantly crafts are the consequence of his experience in the world, displaying a visceral passion for his practice, the meditative intention of his introspection, and his virtually unprecedented creative vision.
Essay by Morgan Bakinowski
Opening Reception Friday, September 6, 2019 from 5 to 7pm.