The Magician (2016)

What would be art without images? Or, what would be of imagination without knowledge? Both are inexhaustible sources, but the big difference lies in that one of them is constructed based on reality and the other thrives from inspiration. In any case, this combination has generated amazing works and artistic motifs. In the 21st Century, one English artist gives the world a masterpiece that embodies one of the most enigmatic beings, the spiritualist or the practitioner of mystic arts, The Magician.

Anything that has beauty and provides order, anything resolved in a picture gives pleasure – a sense of rightness, as in being one with nature… Any successful picture – an abstract work or a landscape – has a place and rightness and an ability to last and grow. It is not merely a matter of painting a tree, but of making a picture that works.

The effect he is able to achieve is color that is rich yet luminous, voluminous yet light and heavy simultaniously. The insistence upon the surface of the work, as well as an all-over composition, ties Virtosu inextricably to predecessors and peers Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, all of whom pushed the boundaries of their paintings literally and figuratively.

Although Virtosu is legendary for his almost spiritual obsession with abstraction, the meaning behind his work is in fact the very root of the philosophy that he nurtures and solidifies in his entire artistic career. The title creates the bridge between his art and the viewer, giving the key to the interpretation of the image. This philosophy and method that he uses to approach his art making, culminates in his masterful abstract paintings of the 2016, including the unmatched The Magician (2016). In the present work, the viewer gains a rich insight into the vision and creative process behind the artist's work. The elaborate assessment of geometric depth of perspective emphasized by the long and curved lines heightens the underlying feeling of a difficult and long-winded path, a metaphor, once again, of the never-ending struggle. What the artist feels inside reflects on his canvases.

Virtosu always quotes “Life is not always easy to live, but the opportunity to do so is a blessing beyond comprehension. In the process of living, we all face struggles, many of which will cause us to suffer and to experience pain.”

The centerpiece is the magician, a person who has the power to make impossible things happen. Texture is a very prominent element in this painting as well as the excessive details and lighting which brings it to life. It makes The Magician seem as if it’s looking at you. The yellow, orange that is used for the magician’s cape is illuminating with different shades that visualize a multiple of faces. Faces are usually the first thing we notice in other people. Faces tell us more about a person than any other physical attribute and have always been socially important to humans. The Magician oil painting brings emphasis, the irradiating colors draw your eyes directly to the middle of the canvas while creating a sense of curiosity due to the absence of a human but presence of mysterious or supernatural. We evaluate from impressions based largely on expressions. The “faces” balance our psychological need to understand the emotion being conveyed. The visual quality of the painting creates a sense of awe and allows us to pry into the true meaning.

The true beauty can be seen in the spontaneity, improvisation and non-conventional style used by Virtosu. Pushing beyond his predecessors’ achievements, Virtosu carves a niche within this canon that is at once deeply singular and highly personal. At once lyrical and unruly, meditative and demanding, the compelling abstraction of The Magician by Gheorghe Virtosu draws viewers in towards a consideration of the fundamental qualities of the human condition.