The Chelsea Perspective - ARTisSpectrum

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Through rich oils and textured watercolors, Vesselin Kourtev paints compositions ripe with associations of both allegory and mysticism. His works are suffused with light and pastels; his colors saturate the entirety of each work. Kourtev’s abstract, ethereal backgrounds allow the faces of his carefully drawn figures to stand out in sharp, detailed contrast. Kourtev, however, does not limit the emotional content of his paintings to a one-dimensional idea. Though his body of work has a distinct and repeating style, each painting tells the viewer a different story and shares a different idea. Kourtev’s ideas are not only about the mechanics of art (though he makes a lot of creative statements on the subject) but are also about the past, present and future of our human memory and psyche. “A Tale of Sheherazad” gives a modern vantage point to the tale about the murderous king who intends to kill his bride on their wedding night. Sheherazad saves her life by telling him a tale that lasts a thousand and one nights, thereby winning his heart. Though Kourtev uses watercolor and pencil in this work, he creates the illusion of a collage loosely held together. Each character in the story occupies 34 ARTisSpectrum Ve s s e l i n Ko u r tev A Tale about Scheherazad 22” x 30” Watercolor on Handmade Paper a different section of the collage, disconnected from the other. This truncation creates a mood of isolation and strange loneliness within the painting. The King and Sheherazad eye each other from their separate patches of color, illustrating the tenuous nature of their relationship before Sheherazade has won back her life. “Thoughts About Origin” has a dreamy quality that permeates the viewer’s imagination. Where the “Sheherazad” picture may illustrate unexpected and dangerous connection, “Origin” generates feelings of deep connection to history and ancestry. Kourtev uses pastel colors that blend easily into one another. The two elderly figures in the center seem to emerge, ghost-like from the amorphous beauty of the landscape. Next to them is a pristine egg, symbolizing potential and new life. The interplay of color and light creates an atmosphere of fluidity that nicely compliments this vision of connection. Vesselin Kourtev is originally from Bulgaria. He obtained his degree at the University of Veliko Turnovo in Fine Arts in 1985. His work has been widely exhibited throughout Eastern and Western Eu - rope and in the U.S. He currently lives in New Jersey. www.kourtev.com Thoughts about Origin 29” x 24” Oil on Canvas
The painting of Berenice Michelow, intensely personal and alive with vibrant humanity, is very deeply rooted in the artist’s upbringing. During her childhood amidst South African Apartheid, Michelow became dis - tinctly aware of the racial struggle and turmoil within the state, and from this tension she derives much of her subject matter. But she wisely chooses to present a positive social commentary, portraying the strength of the black community and the familial sense of interconnectivity that now emerges in today’s free South Africa. The faces of her figures radiate warmth and reveal the artist’s deep, personal attachment to the subject: these are not just pictures on a canvas, but representations of complex personalities and relationships. “Sibusisu with Cars” is part of a series dedicated to the new South Africa. The single figure, a young boy, addresses the viewer directly with a complex expression; in his hand he holds the controls to a skeletal toy car, which seems to represent the infrastructure of the burgeoning nation. Through light, form, and symbol, Michelow makes it clear that Sibusisu stands as the future of his national heritage. Michelow is a highly celebrated artist with credentials including participation in the 1979 Val - paraiso Biennale and placements in prestigious private collections. She began her work in abstraction and has since moved to more naturalistic forms, citing a growing political awareness as the cause of this shift. The paintings make it clear that her subjects are heartfelt; the realization of this personal connection makes the work so much stronger. www.michelow.com Nymph in Movement 29.5” x 22” Pastel on Paper B e r e n i c e M i c h e l ow I n Sibusicu with Cars 48” x 60” Oil on Canvas Nelida Kalanj her pastel “Nymph in Movement,” the Croatian artist Nelida Ka - lanj creates a faceless woman entangled in roots or other sinewy connectors that resemble, overall, an intricate neural network. Yet the union between the woman and her surroundings is seamless; the roots are a part or extension of the woman’s own body. The interconnections between humans and nature are an important sensitivity Kalanj explores in the many works she has undertaken over the past 25 years. In “Dancing Fishes,” the connection between human-made processes—in this case, art itself—and nature is even more apparent. Carrying the spontaneity of a sketch, it remains in the middle of the process of creation and at the same time is in a state of completion. Public displays of Kalanj’s art have been numerous. Ka - lanj has had approximately 50 solo exhibitions and many group exhibitions throughout Europe and the world. Her highest honor may have come during the early 1990s when, as civil war raged in then Yugoslavia, Kalanj was called upon by the Presidency of Croatia’s Constitutional Court to exhibit her work for a gathering of foreign del- egates. She was called upon by the presidency of Germany’s Con - stitutional Court to exhibit her work under their patronage. Kalanj lives and works in Rijeka in northwestern Croatia, the city in which she previously studied at the Academy of Fine Art. She is a member of the Croatian Association of Artists (the HDLU) and the Society of Artists in Croatia (LIKUM). http://www.art-mine.com/ArtistPage/Nelida_Kalanj.aspx 35 ARTisSpectrum
Page 1 and 2: Vol. 16, October 2006 ARTisSpectrum
Page 3 and 4: ARTisS p e c t r u m P U B L I S H
Page 5 and 6: Masha Kohan The paintings of Masha
Page 7 and 8: park) that nevertheless possesses a
Page 9 and 10: Toshiko Nishikawa Toshiko Nishikawa
Page 11 and 12: Fusing sympathetic sand magic and t
Page 13 and 14: St. Tropez from Balcony 41” x 34
Page 15 and 16: Edith Suchodrew Mystic Grotto 35”
Page 17 and 18: Once an industrial section of cold
Page 19 and 20: CHELSEA CONTRASTS BIG SPACE, SMALL
Page 21 and 22: Doolittle, who once played the viol
Page 23 and 24: M i c h e l e Ke l l n e r The Amer
Page 25 and 26: Among other Chelsea Hotel inhabitan
Page 27 and 28: Here I find my balance, as it were
Page 29 and 30: Spirit Guide #11 29” x 61” Oil
Page 31 and 32: Iva Milanova German artist Iva Mila
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Page 37 and 38: Nature’s Art 24” x 20” Giclee
Page 39 and 40: Barbanakova The human condition and
Page 41 and 42: Christian Brandner The paintings of
Page 43 and 44: The black and white, large format p
Page 45 and 46: G i a n n i s S t r a t i s Deep in
Page 47 and 48: The expressionist paintings of Helg
Page 49 and 50: Mauricio Toulumsis Soul and Spirit
Page 51 and 52: Stephen Looney When I look at a bla
Page 53 and 54: Atousa Foroohary In the face of fra
Page 55 and 56: ARTisSpectrum Name A ARTisSpectrum

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