By grabbing the momentum of the beginning of the year, I wanted to create a contemporary painting, a figurative artwork in which I reflect on the current events and the reality around us. I set the bar a little higher than that, because I was thinking not only in a fresh and more modern style, but also in human figure … and this is notoriously not one of the simplest jumps. But I ran at it … The finished painting (Eve of the 21st Century, 50×40 cm, acrylic on canvas) shows several challenges that are also present in my own life.
The situation is not like in the Paradise lately. The peace, abundance, and freedom of the Garden of Eden are lacking in our lives. We chose knowledge above everything else. All the data and information of the world is at our disposal, the “Apple” is ours and we consume it regularly, but are we happier with it? What are the costs and consequences of knowledge? Is this constant flow of information rushing through us really empowering us? Are we taking advantage of this opportunity that is available at any time or are we abusing it?
EVEs, who we are (with Adam – I’m with Gyula – or just “adamless”) are trying to thrive and long for the Garden of Eden, for a nest that is as loving and peaceful as home from which our Life started. And the reality is that sometimes you have to pay a great price for this: a lifetime loan / having more children than you can manage / marriage of convenience and we could list … and that we deserved it all for a fraction of apples, I doubt. Let’s just say I would have had a hard time cheating on an apple … somehow that’s not my favourite fruit. What is certain that the weight of our decisions always weighs on our shoulders, overshadowing the joy of nesting.
On top of that, the year 2019 brought a special test to all of us. A years-long challenge that questions our relationships, tests our strength and perseverance, upsets our balance, makes our daily lives precarious and unpredictable. And we, exposed to the power of the outside world, in a sea of news and false news, information and disinformation, cover ourselves and our vulnerability with a mask.
Ideally the references in the painting will make you think and raise questions about these topics. But not only the pictorial elements serve this purpose, but also the colours I used. The concept of intellect and knowledge can be linked to the most luminous colour: yellow. While blue makes you turn inward and connects to faith. Usually when the colour blue appears on a yellow background, the yellow suppresses the blue, so the intellect becomes dominant. Yet I counterbalanced this damping power of yellow with the quantitative dominance of the blue because I wanted to emphasize hope much more. And if we look at the mixture of yellow and blue, it will turn green, in this mixture knowledge and faith unite, and a feeling of not being alone, hope and serenity are born. Because no matter how difficult life and a particular situation may seem, we must not give up hope that sooner or later everything will fall into place and we can enjoy everyday life freely and healthily again.
