No Colours on Sunday

This is so weird. Many times I tried to paint or draw on Sundays. Mostly to stay away from crowds and chaos one finds in towns and cities. However, the majority of the time, I either block or else I will simply draw crappy stuff.

I get entangled between anger, frustration, and empty spaces. I will be lost. It will be as if I am in the middle of a desert or outer space where one is surrounded completely with nothing. I stand there alone staring. I hear this psychedelic instrumental music in mind. I close my eyes and simply drift onto the unknown. Different colours will be all over without any formal shapes or forms. They are simply splashed around me. That is the place where I detached from reality. 

A Manipulated World

Away from that part of the world that is dominated by greed and manipulative media. That world where it is OK to break the law, It is OK to suffocate minorities, it is OK to destroy forests, it is ok to kill animal species, it is OK for racial hatred.

Thankfully my art is my refuge. It keeps me away from this chaos. It is my gateway to freedom. It temporarily removes the chains that the System imposed on me as a grew along. Art provides me the purpose to unchain.

Purpose

I thought that this COVID-19 pandemic experience will wake up a new wave of hope for a more just world, for a greener planet, for cleaner oceans, less greed. However, the first signs do not look good. Seems like humanity wants to go back to what it knows best. Art should serve the purpose to awaken and support movements against this crazy way of life. Any form of art should embark and spark a new revolt. Creative artists must do their part. We cannot shy away anymore from what surrounds us. 

I need to stop trying to paint or draw on Sundays. It must be my rest day. Will I manage? I do not know. I am not the type who gives up easily. I normally fight my demons. Will see how it evolves. For now, I am going to put on my headphones and listen to some inspiring music and drift away to another world where everything is still pure and uncontaminated.

Jose’ Micallef

Sunday 7th June 2020

Artists that I admire - Modigliani

Here is a first of a serious of articles I’ll be writing about artists that I admire. About artists who somehow touched me and influenced me. 

Where we met

I bumped into Amadeo Modigliani’s painting by chance. I recall a couple of decades ago, I was reading a book about Pablo Picasso and there I’ve seen his name for the first time. Since he was a new name for me, I searched him out. The first painting I’ve seen that really impressed was the portrait of Lucia Czechovska. The elongated face resting on a long neck. Very simple but subtle. Not too many colors but enough to capture the lines. Then I kept on going through his rich portfolio. I got hooked. I managed to see some of his work in Milano a few years back. It was a very emotional moment for me. Yes, I admit I cried. Only two other artists have such an effect on me - Vincent van Gogh and Lucien Freud.

His paintings were all of the singular persons. No crowds or couples. He created his own style at the time where a revolution was taking place in the art world. While Picasso was breaking every rule of the then traditional art, Modi, as he was commonly known, brought his Italian influence and merged it with primitive African art. One can also find African influence in Picasso’s works but Modi gave it his imprint and created works that soothed better the eyes and less aggressive than Picasso.

In his short presence on this planet, Modi managed to leave his mark in the art world. He followed his passion and move to Paris as he knew that Paris was the center of creativity and also the center of entertainment. He mingled with other artists of the time and gradually created his individual style. He was not shy of controversy. He wanted to be himself and he painted what he saw within him at the moment. I love his blues like that in The Little Peasant and also the terracotta backgrounds like that in the piece called The Artist’s Wife. Then there was Jeanne, the love of his life who supported him an inspired him in many ways.

His Legacy

His bohemian life was not a healthy one with alcohol and drugs. I am not sure if such substances induced hallucinations that led to his masterpieces. But he was a master of his own world. A master of his passion. Tuberculosis took away his life early. Who knows how many more works would he have painted should he lived a longer life like Picasso or Matisse? His life did not end with his death. It only ended when Jeanne joined him a few days later after his death when she took away her life as she could not bear her life without him. 

He lived a tragic life but he is definitely still alive in his works.