Charles A. Csuri: Faces
Artist(s):
Title:
- Faces
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 1989
Medium:
- Unix environment, LightJet on paper with laminate
Size:
- 76 x 102 cm (30 x 40 in)
Category:
Artist Statement:
Faces
Broad and simple in conception, limited in its range of colors, Csuri’s Faces is a brilliant synthesis of moving narrative and dynamic visual composition. Rooted in the liberating experience of expressionism, the entire image is a series of faceted surfaces without intervals or gaps. The planes, one over the other, form a rhythm of repetitive patterns, penetrating and partaking of one another. Shapes are created with overlays of luminous color that expand and overlap, recasting the notion of pictorial space. The faces form a single, rocklike mass in so shallow an area that they seem to move outward, towards the viewer, instead of inward to a vanishing point. In particular, the technique of repeatedly placing the same subject out of alignment gives a curious impression of bas relief.
The broadly brushed-in background serves as a suitable backdrop to the heads, which suggest the influence of primitive sculpture. However, Csuri’s delight in his medium and the simplicity of his forms indicate that the artist is not primarily concerned with representation. The contours are light, lyrical, and emphatically complementary. The substructure of the drawing is marked by a deliberate coarseness, with line used to create an emotive effect independently of color. There is extraordinary coherence, textural unity, and a moment of metamorphosis as the eye travels over the surface following a web of lines from which images begin to emerge. Satirical and abrasive, yet compassionate and whimsical, Csuri creates a universe of his own, marked by tawdry moving faces that grip the imagination and stimulate the fancy.
