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The Southern Phantasm of Henryk Fantazos

porchofthemystics — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:12:29 +0000

Henryk Fantazos is a wonder. His story is as unlikely as his paintings are good. My first encounter with his work was the "Face of the South" collection, which is the focus of this article, and from which all of the works displayed here come from. These paintings move with the fluidity of the Mississippi and sway with the cotton fields of Georgia. Even submerged in the murky bayous of Louisiana, his paintings still shine with a light of fantasy that is most unique. Below is an interview with Mr. Fantazos which covers such subjects as a blushing peach, wal-mart shoppers, and of course his singular take on the intrinsic beauty of the South.

JD: My first thought when I saw your "Face of the South" collection of paintings was, "Where did this come from?" because it seemed so otherworldly, but at the same time still captured an inherit beauty of the South that is not easily seen. You took two seemingly opposite elements, the rural/conservative South as a subject, and painted it through a surrealist eye, which is obviously about as non-southern as you can get. Was there a specific inspiration for meshing these two contrasting elements together, or did it occur naturally?

HF: That is well observed: indeed there is blending of metaphorical language which I bring with the subject usually depicted in a softly sentimental way by others. The results are, I hope unique.

JD: Who are some the artists that inspired you to begin painting, and who shaped your early work?

HF: I never really had a true choice. Painting chose me and one does not diddle with Fate.

JD: Who are some contemporary artists that you admire?

HF: The list is very, very long of artists I admire. They come from gloomy Flanders and from sunny Italy but they are not my contemporaries. If you are in love with a woman it would be practical that she’d be your contemporary, but in painting it has no significance.

JD: What inspires you to paint?

HF: A vision flies into my mind and demands to be painted. I have learned not to respond by reacting: ”but, dear gods, you are too weird, too irrational for the Wal-Mart shoppers to accept!” and instead I throw all my resources at building that vision, making it convincing and artistically solid.

JD: In another interview you stated that "modern art" is "grotesque," can you expound on this idea?

HF: To clarify- I said that grotesque is the proper language for depicting our times. Now, "modern art" is not “grotesque” in my view. There is some decaying cadaver still offered for reverent viewing by art-market manipulators as “modern art” but it is wise to keep enough acquaintance with the development of Western culture to see it is rubbish, like hoola-hoops, experimental poetry and cacophonic music.

JD: Your rural Southern depictions capture its intrinsic nature, but not by conventional means. You pick scenes and characters that are unusual, but still dead on to the Southern phantasm. Can you talk about this subject further?

HF: Well,that is a huge subject. In the first place, because it is so important; I never initiate work on some composition by conceptualizing about the South and forcing some ponderous and clever contrivance. I know it would have the fetor of formaldehyde cerebrations and falsity of plaster of Paris kisses. It has to be authentic, originating in the depth from which all true visions come.

JD: Can you expound on your personal relationship to the South, how you came to settle in the South, if it was a conscious decision, and what effect it has had on your work, and what it means to you?

HF: When I still lived in Europe I fed richly on Flannery O’Connor, Katherine Porter, Carson McCallers, Faulkner, Walker Percy, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams. Later, looking for America in America I found that the Holy Land of the South is my home to grow into, to love and deserve. Living here has daily, constant and direct influence on my work. Indeed every element I include in my paintings is taken from my Southern surroundings.

JD: It seems as if people are blind to their own beauty and the beauty that is around them if they stay in the same place, or if they grew up in a place they take it for granted. Do you believe that you being an "outsider" to the South allowed you to see it anew and discover fresh qualities about it that before were untapped?

HF: So very true! To be a painter you have to remain an observer, an exited peeping tom. Reality, to which we are all newcomers, is actually shocking and sensational. I look at the blushing peach and I am shocked!

JD: Have you ever been influenced by your last name, since a lot of your work has a fantasy/fantastic quality to it?

HF: Yes, I feel in some overarching, large scale way obligated to live up to the promise my name carries. Of course if I chose to be a funeral-parlor beautician or a tax-collector that obligation would disappear.

JD: Who are some of your favorite author's and their works?

HF: From the blessed moment when my English has firmed itself in me and I was able to taste Shakespeare I mostly stay inside of His Continent.

JD: Some of your favorite musicians?

HF: Mozart, Brahms, Puccini, Rachmaninov, & Orff.

JD: If you could collaborate with any artist dead or alive, who would you choose?

HF: Jan van Eyck, but he would not have me,alas! He would glance at my efforts and shook his head with a sigh-not good enough.

JD: If you were a celebrity impersonator, dead or alive, who would you be?

HF: I impersonate myself and do a less and less credible job of it.

JD: What’s the best day you can imagine?

HF: A long day of love and wide-ranging conversations.

JD: If you could live anywhere in the world where would that be?

HF: Several places to reside there for a while and move to the next, already comfortably appointed . Probably New Zeeland islands, Bali, Portofino, Santorini and more.

JD: What are some of the other ways you utilize your time besides painting?

HF: I grow antique roses, talk with a few well selected friends, but I have very little time to spare :To get good at what I do takes all my time.

I would like to give full credit to Conway, Arkansas based Oxford American Magazine for introducing me to the wonder of Henryk Fantazos. Oxford American was founded in 1992 with an editorial mission to "explore the American South." They are devoted to the art, music, and writing that spews from the fertile lands of Dixie.

The Barah Mah Series by Sidharth

fauzia rafiq — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:41:37 +0000

Twelve Months
Punjabi Calendar

The paintings in Sidharth's Barah Mah: Twelve Months of the Year Series are full of vibrant color, soft shapes and beautiful faces that symbolize, and become, the earth in passing through the seasons. Drenched in the spirit of the moment, Sidharth's people follow the natural flow of life with content, and so joy!

The Artist makes use of the strong traditions passed on to him by Sikh Gurus and Tibetan Thangka painters. The names of months, based in an ancient dialect of Sanskrit, constitute the Nanak Shahi and the Punjabi folk calender.

Deriving his content from the 'Bara Mah' texts of Sikh Gurus, in specific, Guru Nanak who 'esteems all the twelve months, day and night as ‘Bhale’ Always Blessed', Sidharth creates strong and inspiring messages of hope and happiness. Looking at his paintings, it’s hard to imagine that some of the seasonal elements do cause destruction, death and unhappiness; and, at times, can be unpleasant and hard to endure for people.

Sidharth's 'people' include the fish, leaves, birds, humans, clouds, breeze, flowers, animals, water, and the rest. View Shahid Mirza's 'Kala Maindha Bhes', and then 'Osho Art', the paintings of Master Osho for additional projections of the one-ness of all creation.

The deliberate enchantment of each image in this series brings back the stunning eeriness created by Kanwal Dhaliwal in his The Rootless-111. Dhaliwal also takes his time meditating a subject on canvas, and he does so with an 'urban' passion that cuts through his images ice-gripping the heart of the viewer. Sidharth, however, displays a contained and 'arrived' passion developed in an enlightened place such as a Buddhist monastery to lull the viewer into the possibility of joyous contentment.

Unlike Prem Singh where trees may whisper mild thunders below a tumultuous stroke, Sidharth's brush glides on the canvas in slow motion creating symbols of storms that almost 'prettily' hang above the earth and the earthlings.

Another important but rather 'local' aspect of Sidharth's Bara Mah series is that it gives color to the black and white Uddari Art pages as do the paintings of Navpreet Kaur. Both are 'earthy' painters; one paints the earth as she feels it; the other, as we would imagine it. I love to have both on the virtual wall of Uddari Art as it is to the palette of these two that the mysterious Monotone mind of this blog design responds with its own splash of color on the page.

If you find fresh smiles on glowing pink faces in Maagh, the months of January-February, and are perplexed because you live in Toronto, for example; remember, Punjab is a hot country where Maagh is like Chaiter-Waisaakh or even Jeth-HaaRh.

Fauzia

Punjabi Calendar
1. Chyet/Chaiter - March-April
2. Waisaakh - April-May
3. Jeth - May-June
4. Asaarh/HaaRh - June-July
5. Sawan/Saawan - July-August
6. Bhadoen/BhaadoN - August/September
7. Aasun/Assoo - September/October
8. Katke/Katak/KateiN - October/November
9. Manghar/Maghar - November-December
10. Poukh/Poh - December-January
11. Maagh - January-February
12. Falgun/Phaggan - February-March

Bara Mah Texts
There are three 'Barah Maha' texts by Sikh Gurus. Two of them are recorded in ‘Shri Guru Granth Sahib’ (The Holy book of Sikhs). The first Guru Baba Nanak sung Barah Maha In Raga Tukhari while the fifth Guru Arjan Dev‘s hymns are composed in raga Maajh. The third text is recorded in ‘Shri Dasam Granth’ by Tenth Guru Gobind Singh in Krishna Leela Epic.

Falgun Y by Sidharth

fauzia rafiq — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:12:46 +0000

Falgun/Phhaggan Yellow
Mid February to Mid March
Baramah: Months of the Year

painters « WordPress.com Tag Feed

The Southern Phantasm of Henryk Fantazos

The Barah Mah Series by Sidharth

Falgun Y by Sidharth

Falgun 2 by Sidharth

Falgun by Sidharth

Maagh 3 by Sidharth

Maagh 2 by Sidharth

Maagh 1 by Sidharth

Maagh by Sidharth

Poukh 2 by Sidharth

Poukh A by Sidharth

Poukh by Sidharth

Manghar 2 by Sidharth

Manghar in the Market Place by Sidharth

Manghar Hymn of Rumi by Sidharth

Manghar by Sidharth

Katke 1 by Sidharth

Katke by Sidharth

Aasun 3 by Sidharth

Aasun 2 by Sidharth

Aasun 0 by Sidharth

Bhadoen Eye of the Moon by Sidharth

Bhadoen B by Sidharth

Bhadoen by Sidharth

Saawan GAJ by Sidharth