"Visions of Graceful Absurdity consists of oil paintings by Luke Cirsky which hover between the elegance of Impressionism towards the visionary (sometimes offensive) realms of Surrealism."
About the Show:
“What’s going on? I no longer dream anymore... The visions and lands of fantasy, which once appeared so crisp and reachable - are no more. Am I sleeping too soundly? Am I not eating as much sugar as I once upon a time? Or has my brain’s prefrontal cortex simply over developed, casting my illogical dreams aside as a waste of precious energy? Visions of Graceful Absurdity is about reclaiming those dreams, weaving them into a semi-coherent setting with fanciful ideas and beauty which amuse and punctuate my life and thoughts daily.” - Luke Cirsky
Visions of Graceful Absurdity consists of oil paintings by Luke Cirsky which hover between the elegance of Impressionism towards the visionary (sometimes offensive) realms of Surrealism. It is where serious themes like ageing and capitalism are re-mastered lovingly, using techniques seen in Europe’s most glorious period for landscape art, between 1820-1920. Ultimately, Cirsky seeks to dismiss any attitudes towards Surrealism as being weird, cold or disturbing through his work. Rather, viewers will take delight in an almost bi-polar style: from painstaking brushwork versus the loose flow of palette knife auras – and won’t go home with too many Dali style nightmares! Most pointedly, this exhibition expresses to viewers that pairing beauty and whimsy is essential to keeping your ‘inner child’ as you journey through life.
Overall, Cirsky’s ‘warm surrealism’ is bewildering, dramatic, witty and subdued all at once – a place where things are irresistibly unlike the everyday. You will explore landscapes, still lifes and the occasional portrait – whereby you will feel the artist’s love for patterns; experimental brush strokes and chiaroscuro. Picasso once said that “Everything you can imagine is real.” Given this, Visions of Graceful Absurdity will help the viewers see life from an extraordinary ‘mind’s eye’ vantage point. What riddles will you find in the detail? So open your mind and prepare to be taken away!
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” Thomas Merton
About The Artist:
Luke Cirsky is an oil painter who was born in country Victoria, raised in Queensland and now lives in Sydney. Throughout his education, art and literature consistently captured his imagination more than ever - and he enjoyed the freedom to create using his hands. From age thirteen in 2001, he began attending private oil painting classes with Ms Cheryl White and about nine other bubbly seniors. She was at first reluctant to teach a child, but Cirsky proved he had patience and passion to win her over. In his senior school year, he exhibited a major installation at the Education Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Art (Brisbane).
Cirsky went on to graduate university – a Bachelor of Design – but art kept calling him back. You could say he had no ‘formal’ training in art – but it is this fact, with which he most comfortable - as his method differs to most “cookie cutter” art college product. His art tells the other side to smaller, less visible aspects of life and his painstaking brushwork encourages people to look closer. No doubt, it is antiques, his Czech heritage, Surrealists and the Impressionists which are of immense inspiration. He dislikes the direction of most contemporary art and believes it is becoming all about concept and less about merit in execution. Cirsky confesses, he can spend minutes just observing a glass vase to see how light falls upon it and what the equivalent colours in paint would be. He favours oils over acrylics for their slow drying and vibrance.
Cirsky has exhibited his works mostly in Queensland – the first being at his Kelvin Grove university in 2011 and then at the renowned Immanuel Arts Festival in Maroochydore in 2013. “Visions of Graceful Absurdity” is his debut solo Sydney show. He has volunteered at his local Strathpine gallery and at the Biennale of Sydney in 2014. Looking ahead, Cirsky cannot foresee a future without art – and he hopes to open a gallery studio and also write / illustrate for various literature. He hopes you enjoy the show and spread the word!
About the Show:
“What’s going on? I no longer dream anymore... The visions and lands of fantasy, which once appeared so crisp and reachable - are no more. Am I sleeping too soundly? Am I not eating as much sugar as I once upon a time? Or has my brain’s prefrontal cortex simply over developed, casting my illogical dreams aside as a waste of precious energy? Visions of Graceful Absurdity is about reclaiming those dreams, weaving them into a semi-coherent setting with fanciful ideas and beauty which amuse and punctuate my life and thoughts daily.” - Luke Cirsky
Visions of Graceful Absurdity consists of oil paintings by Luke Cirsky which hover between the elegance of Impressionism towards the visionary (sometimes offensive) realms of Surrealism. It is where serious themes like ageing and capitalism are re-mastered lovingly, using techniques seen in Europe’s most glorious period for landscape art, between 1820-1920. Ultimately, Cirsky seeks to dismiss any attitudes towards Surrealism as being weird, cold or disturbing through his work. Rather, viewers will take delight in an almost bi-polar style: from painstaking brushwork versus the loose flow of palette knife auras – and won’t go home with too many Dali style nightmares! Most pointedly, this exhibition expresses to viewers that pairing beauty and whimsy is essential to keeping your ‘inner child’ as you journey through life.
Overall, Cirsky’s ‘warm surrealism’ is bewildering, dramatic, witty and subdued all at once – a place where things are irresistibly unlike the everyday. You will explore landscapes, still lifes and the occasional portrait – whereby you will feel the artist’s love for patterns; experimental brush strokes and chiaroscuro. Picasso once said that “Everything you can imagine is real.” Given this, Visions of Graceful Absurdity will help the viewers see life from an extraordinary ‘mind’s eye’ vantage point. What riddles will you find in the detail? So open your mind and prepare to be taken away!
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” Thomas Merton
About The Artist:
Luke Cirsky is an oil painter who was born in country Victoria, raised in Queensland and now lives in Sydney. Throughout his education, art and literature consistently captured his imagination more than ever - and he enjoyed the freedom to create using his hands. From age thirteen in 2001, he began attending private oil painting classes with Ms Cheryl White and about nine other bubbly seniors. She was at first reluctant to teach a child, but Cirsky proved he had patience and passion to win her over. In his senior school year, he exhibited a major installation at the Education Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Art (Brisbane).
Cirsky went on to graduate university – a Bachelor of Design – but art kept calling him back. You could say he had no ‘formal’ training in art – but it is this fact, with which he most comfortable - as his method differs to most “cookie cutter” art college product. His art tells the other side to smaller, less visible aspects of life and his painstaking brushwork encourages people to look closer. No doubt, it is antiques, his Czech heritage, Surrealists and the Impressionists which are of immense inspiration. He dislikes the direction of most contemporary art and believes it is becoming all about concept and less about merit in execution. Cirsky confesses, he can spend minutes just observing a glass vase to see how light falls upon it and what the equivalent colours in paint would be. He favours oils over acrylics for their slow drying and vibrance.
Cirsky has exhibited his works mostly in Queensland – the first being at his Kelvin Grove university in 2011 and then at the renowned Immanuel Arts Festival in Maroochydore in 2013. “Visions of Graceful Absurdity” is his debut solo Sydney show. He has volunteered at his local Strathpine gallery and at the Biennale of Sydney in 2014. Looking ahead, Cirsky cannot foresee a future without art – and he hopes to open a gallery studio and also write / illustrate for various literature. He hopes you enjoy the show and spread the word!
