Me: An Introduction

The picture attached at the beginning of this post is only significative of one fact, that the bookshelf belongs to me. I recently arranged most of my books alphabetically and accordning to genre. This hasn't happened in my life in a long time, if ever before. Mainly, the reasons are of course because that I, like anyone else, have moved to new locations, live with someone, and have had to stow away books, and that I now needed to get them out of the basement because it filled with water. I also have left my studio where I stored most of my art-books.

Anyway, the bookshelf is supposed to introduce you to my person. I love literature and art, and books, or, I like being surrounded by books. The picture of the shelf is only representative in a certain aspect, since it doesn’t show all -I read a lot as well, fiction as well as fact.

Collecting, when it comes to text-based books, is mostly inadvertent for me. I have no intention of buying first editions of this or that book. Still, I love books that are great to look at, as well as read.
This does not really form the basis of my philosophy when it comes to life, but may well be grounds for my view on the arts. Movies are subject to the same kind of interest and scrutiny. There should be motive, depth, vision, an underlying aesthetic.

Well, what's the deal, really? Nuthin', I just had to stick something in here to make it more interesting. This is a sketch for a comic I'll never get around to make, but I wish I did though.

What´s gonna happen? Well, the guy goes off to get some dope, and something goes wrong. This is me -not the character, but me, the person with many ideas that may never come to fruition.

I was asked to contribute to this blog, one reason being that some of my fellow writers here supposedly are fans. I am really most grateful. I'm also a fan, no doubt about it. Like all of you, we nowadays can flood our eyes with great art through the screens of our computers, and the internet has been accessory for me to many new discoveries of an interesting and overwhelming kind.

I think the solely most interesting artist for me in many ways in latter years whose work I've encountered -on the internet by the way- is Aleksandra Walizsewska.
I don't know much about her person, and I'm not sure what other people and the artworld knows about her, all I know is that I declare her art to be truly great. It is of a kind very different than most, elevated and profound. It transcends the usual art that I come across, whether it be our lovely company of graphics-surrealist-mania or any ”high-brow”-equivalent. Walizsewska is high-brow, to me, in the best of senses, but how we categorize art is less important.

Above: painting by A. Walizsewska

 

In an interview performed here at this blog, Walizsewska states that she’s “bored to death by 99% of so-called contemporary art. Old painting is still very vital for me, it makes me really emotional while approaching it”.
It's a quote that naturally tells me alot about her art, but also about her. She is apparently influenced by Renaissance art, and I can certainly relate to this. Also, the fact that she's bored with contemporary art is just great to read, simply because I think her own work is evidence that her sentiments are universally true. Her work is contained within the 1% that isn't boring, to me and the intelligent minds that have encountered it.

So, I was supposed to introduce myself. Well, this is my sort of introduction, and the part of me that is Marcus the artist and art-appreciator. I've been recognized by my peers, I think, to some extent, and that is enough. I think for me a couple of achievements are to have been published by Le Dernier Cri, one of the greatest and most interesting artist-book studios around.  I'm currently taking part in an exhibition curated by the great Stéphane Blanquet/United Dead Artists and Artsfactory in Paris, which opened in September 2012, showing works by many great colleagues of mine.

 My hobbies lie in the field of reading and writing. I am currently trying to learn French, which is difficult, but I wish to decipher all of Serge Gainsbourg's songs, as well as being able to talk, read and some day write like French people do.

That's all, folks!!

I have promised to make a book for Le Dernier Cri, also, a small book for Re:Surgo (formerly BonGout, that have published me before) and I am currently waiting for a short graphic-novel (about 60-pages) of mine to be issued by an undisclosed Swedish company. I have recently opened an art-gallery showcasing some good friends and aquaintances, and paradoxically, I've never before felt so disinterested in making pictures as of today.
That's a very short resumé. I'm not sure what the future holds for me with respect to the arts, all I know is that I'm glad to be part of it all.

http://marcusnyblom.tumblr.com/

EXCESSIVE VOYEURISM

"It is possible to have the whole story of Oedipus playing in your head and still behave properly at the table." (Luis Buñuel)


GREETINGS, obscure art lovers,

I am proud to present the first issue of EXCESSIVE VOYEURISM - wicked art zine.
There are no strong zine releasing traditions in Lithuania so I decided to go for a change and to make a vigorous stir in Lithuanian underground art culture.The idea of self-published zine with bizarre artworks was born in summer 2011. The story of choosing the title for it...One of the references is Laura Mulvey's essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (written in 1973 and published in 1975), I thought that ideas suggested there also fits for visual art that has its own meaning/plot/story and adequate images, with ability to provide „visual pleasure through scopophilia“. As you will turn the pages you will see, that despite of differences between each artistic expression, there are something uniting them. It might be distinguished for sympathies to illustrative art & comics, traditional graphic prints and engravings, outsider/punk related art, hand drawings, collages, even some forms of performance art, also interests in philosophy, graphic violence, human body, nudity, (auto)eroticism, taboo, obsession, aggression, degeneration, horror, grotesque, demented visions and delusional experiences...

wicked art zine published by Shaltmira. design & photos by Kristina Alijošiūtė.
500 copies, A5, black&white, 80 pages. Artworks, interviews, short stories.

Contributors: Aleksandra Waliszewska (Poland), Martin Bladh (Sweden), Marcel Ruijters (Holland), Kristina Gentvainytė (Lithuania/Belgium), Alkbazz(France), Simon Andersson(Sweden), Manuel Pereira (Portugal), Wiley Trieff (USA), ZIGENDEMONIC (Ukraine), Si Clark (UK), Crippa Almqvist (Sweden) & Zeke S.Clough, Gaspard Pitiot (France), Vctor Dvnkel (Portugal), Arturas Rozkovas (Lithuania/UK). Also, here you will find my artworks and a short fiction story written by Aeron Alfrey (USA).

get your copy / also trade available : shaltmira@gmail.com
22,22 lt / 6,66 € ( + 3€ fee if sending registered letter)

Interview with Aleksandra Waliszewska

Is destruction more fascinating than decay?

** Both phenomena are inspiring in their own respects. Myself, I would choose to be indestructible.

I often perceive death as coming from the inside. In you drawings, threat is often animalistic. Your characters are prey. Do you feel paranoid sometimes?

** I like animals a lot. I like to watch them, but I'm afraid of aggressive animals that might threaten me. It's not very frequent that I encounter such hostile animals, which is why I rather adore, than flee from them.

Do you also use them as symbols?

** There are no hidden symbols in my paintings.

Do you have a totem animal?

** I love many species of animals but I wouldn't describe any of them as totemic.

Could we interpret some of your drawings as the loss of childhood?

** The fact that I paint children is not based on any deeper

forethought. They just constitute an interesting form for me.

Do you think that thoughts, when too peremptory, can constitute an obstacle to fascinations, emotions and intimateness?

** Thinking often remains in opposition to emotion. Art is often quite weak due to over-intellectualizing it, particularly if arising out of wrongly understood ambition. Artists often do what they deem to be a proper thing to do, not something that truly interests them. I have the impression there is less and less emotion in art, rather coldly calculated boredom is predominant.

Many pictures of yours are quite peaceful. They seem to have sentimental and spiritual dimensions… Am I right?

** I try to depict various emotions. Sometimes utter peacefulness can be a background for an immense drama.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/walisz/

http://waliszewska.blogspot.com/

I saw that you used to paint. Could you tell us about this phase?

** I'm bored to death by 99% of so-called contemporary art. Old painting is still very vital for me, it makes me really emotional while approaching it. Maybe this is why I wanted to make things that would be on a comparable level, but I realized that the task is impossible to accomplish. Nevertheless, I tried my hand in tradtion-based oil painting. And I'm happy about it as a phase.

Is there any old painting you’d advise us to look at?

** I'm not trying to convince anyone to enjoy old painting. It is easily accessible through books, Internet etc. It is hard to recommend specific works as this is very personal. Regarding my personal favourites, these would be "Pieta of Avignon" and "The Coronation of the Virgin", both by Enguerrand Quarton.

“Contemporary art” is almost always displayed on white uniform walls… And each artwork stands alone… Where do think your work is better to look at? In a cluttered place? In a book? On the white wall?

** I like my works to be reproduced, book would be a lovely idea, but I also think of T-shirts, buttons etc. Regarding exhibitions, I was thinking of making an open air exhibition among the trees. My father breeds horses and he owns a large stretch of land that could nicely serve this purpose. But technically, it would be complicated so for the time I restrict myself to white walls.

Where do you draw? Do you need to be alone?

** When I work I have to be alone. Even my boyfriend is banned from entering my workplace.

Do you pay attention to yourself and your surroundings when you draw (the light, the way you perceive your body and etc…) or are you only focused on your picture?

** I always paint in daylight. I usually can easily focus on it. Sometimes I get distracted by my own leg or something, but otherwise I try not to get crazy.

How would you qualify your gestures when drawing? Are they precise, slow, nervous, impulsive… Dreamy? Imperious?

** I have no idea.

Are you very productive? How many drawings do you make each week?

** I paint for about five hours each day. About 12 gouaches get done in a week.

What sort of reaction do people have when they look at your pictures?

** I try not to be obsessed by opinions of other people. Painters are their own with their work, and this is good. However, it's nice that I have some followers.

How did you evolve in your artistic environment?

** My paintings were appreciated in my early working phase. Already when I studied at the academy I had solo exhibitions. At that time, it was unusual in Poland. Now there are many more galleries that often show very young artists. After I changed my style, I stayed in the background a bit, it was only possible to see my new works on my Flickr page.

Is there any project you want to tell us about?

** I never work on anything that could be called a "project". People who blather about their various "projects" are ridiculous. I simply paint.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/walisz/

http://waliszewska.blogspot.com/