RELATIONSHIPS AND VARIATIONS
05/28/2009 – 06/05/2009
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 28th 2009
Almost a whole decade in the artistic opus of Nevzat Bejtuli Kica is dominated by the theme Man and horse or Man and his horse. These two figures in the works of Bejtuli are constantly in certain juxtaposition. The clarification of the theme (The man and his horse) is only intended to make a more comprehensible distinction in the man-horse relationship. Not only does this relationship inflict the general division between man and nature, but in the case of this great series of works by Bejtuli the two symbols are intertwined and presented in a variable relation. The man is almost at all times represented as a dervish and the figure of the horse is always “his†horse. This note about the relationship of the two is mainly aimed at accentuating the further differences and tensions between them or the opposit them being synchronized in the world of endless variations already named Man and horse.
Some of the works included in this exhibition, as well as some other works from the series, posses certain independence and real plastic effect, but their context is best found in the continuity or succession of paintings which treat the subject as a sort of variation on a theme (idea). With these works in question, the singularity is part of the general context. The interpretation of certain symbols can be rather ungrateful and risky, especially if it is a case of inconsistent and variable symbols, sometimes even a case of symbols that depend on the momentary relations in a certain piece. At the end their interpretation can be highly dependent on the free associations and personal deciphering of the observer. However, without the attempt of interpretation the full series would lose the singular reason for its creation. The Man, especially in the works on this particular display is a dervish, a character that is suspicious, torn apart from the activity of the painting, in a constant attempt to find balance, find some piece in the ecstatic quality of the expressive display of artistry, the Man is rational probably with some aristocratic background, with a multitude of beliefs, and with the knowledge that should help find the path in the world, or the culture.
The horse represents the nature, unpredictable and ecstatic. It is possible that it is sometimes the symbol of youth, of unpredictable strengths that collide head on with the risks, driven by the life’s energy, as an antipode to the suspicions and unanswered questions which lack action. At times the horse is a symbol of all the chaos in life. . .- the meanings are multiple, and are always dependant on the relationships in the painting. For the author of this text what’s important is that the horse belongs to the dervish, it is his destiny, and the relation between the two is like between the relation of a subject and an outer force that has a certain influence on the subject. The horse as mentioned before represents nature, but nature in the very vicinity of the dervish, something that he is in close contact with, something that he either manages to, or fails to tame.
The beginnings of this series of paintings are at the end of last century. They were created in the time after the war on the territory of former Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Hercegovina, a war felt by the artist himself. In discussion with the painter, he mentions that the tension driven relationship between the dervish and the horse should lead us to think about the hope of forgiveness and the apprehension of forgiving not happening.
Expressionistic is the position of the meaning of Bejtuli’s artistic statement. It often happens that the author postpones the act of painting (for different reasons and excuses), and then suddenly, and in a heat of a moment starts and finishes the artwork. It is the mythical story of all the artists that nourish expressionism as part of their personality. Bejtuli points out that the sketch; the initial drawing positioned on the canvas has an important role in his paintings. It is my observation that his paintings are based on the linearity and the gesture, but the painting process than overcomes them and creates its own rules which than create the final vision, a multiplicity of surfaces, lines, colour relations, structures from the used materials, effect from the controlled flows of the colours. In the final artistic statement, this results with an effect of accumulation of gestural and enformal parts which are in a descriptive function of the momentary conditions and the meaning of the series which is herewith
described.
The series of paintings represents emotional variations on a chosen theme which cannot be displayed singularly, or exist on its own in one artwork. The series is something necessary for the constructive parts to create the whole. Because this theme has appeared in some previous exhibitions, I will therefore try and decipher the new elements present in this artistic display. Probably without any conscious determination, and not deliberately, possibly due to the influence of previously created symbols of the series, in certain paintings Bejtuli does not insist on the possible narrative or symbolic meaning.
These paintings contain the so called “silent symbols†silhouettes of forms that maybe can be compared to others in the series, but the author does not concentrate in giving them specific meaning. These forms satisfy the sheer feeling that arises from their presentation, mainly dark scopes for dark circumstances. The other distinction is the presence of a number of large format works. In reality, as for this particular exhibition, and onwards, these large formats will be a challenge for the author. The format has merely a technical function for an artist that works in the field of expressionism, so what should be the statement of the use of such format, and what are the artist movements in this position? In the reproductions of this catalogue, it will probably not be quite noticeable as one of the negative aspects of this kind of publication is that it tends to unify the format of the works, but in the real gallery space, the difference in formats creates a new dynamics in the relationship between the works of the series. It becomes part of the necessary space context that is created by the works themselves. At the very end the attention will be drawn to a small number of works that have their own distinction in the artistic expression.
The four paintings: Horseman 1, Horseman 2, Sign 1 and Sign 2 all dated in 2008. In these works the main focus is in the gestures and signs. The descriptive intention is completely deserted although a sense of description is present and an association can be created. What is interesting is that such works can be found in Bejtuli’s opus. A small number of water colour paintings from 2003 possess the same quality as these 4 works. In the case of the 4 above mentioned paintings the process is developed by using the oil on canvas techniques and by using a much larger format. The dominance of the gesture is concentrated in the direction of creating a clear sign (symbol) in the context of the idea that dominates the moment, as is, related to these paintings the Man and Horse theme or something related to it. The traces of the gestures/ signs can be found on the white base of the canvas, unburdened with any other relationships, left to hang as a singular form and communicate as such with the observer. They can be seen as a trace of a moment in the author’s creation, a plastic form of haiku poetry, which uses minimal efforts to create maximum effect. What will be the development of this element in the paintings of Nevzat Bejtuli Kica remains to be seen in his future works.
Lazo Plavevski
