Zdeněk Šorf Born Studio
EDUCATION 1975 1990-94 |
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PRIZES 2001 1999 1996
PUBLICATIONS 2008 2007 2005 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992
ABOUT THE ARTIST The paintings of Zdenek SORF, a Prague artist, express his discontent with and criticism of the official arts of the communist regime. Like many artists of his generation, he was seeking new avenues of expression. He was passionate to share his visions, and in 1990 he began teaching young people while at the same time he was finding his own unique voice as an artist. In his first stage of development (1990 to 1995) Sorf focused on the beauty of common everyday objects. He wanted to express the poetic character of things, often combining poetry with his painting. In doing so, he was paying his respects to the spirit of Poeticism - the 1920`s and 1930`s avant garde of Czech art. In what he sees as his next stage of development, magical realism (1995 to the present) he joins a human body and canine head. He calls this the new synthesis. Some of these works are an homage to Velasquez, Botero and Piero della Francesca. Many are covered in handwriting and again combine art and poetry. Sorf is one of the most original and extraordinary talents to emerge from Eastern Europe onto the international art scene. Zdenek Sorf is classified as an alien of extraordinary ability in the field of arts, an artist whose style is very unique and exceptional. He does not copy any particular master painter, rather paints in a style which is uniquely his own. Through his paintings he expresses the poetic character of things, combining poetry and painting the spirit of poeticism. Sorf seeks mysterious reality in his technological motifs depicting objects of everyday life, coldness mingling with hallucinations in the color shades of things. He applies figurative multiplication; i.e. he arranges figures or objects in a parallel composition, painting a variety of subjects such as animals, fruits, still life, using oil on canvas or linen. Zdenek Sorf's paintings were first in EXPOCENTRE RAPID GALLERY in Prague, Czech Republic in 1991. Since that time, his paintings have been exhibited in various other art galleries in Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Kuwait, Holland and Beverly Hills, Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Fe, New York, Los Angeles, San Diego. In 1996, he was awarded the prize of Masaryk by the Academy of Arts, Prague, Czech Republic and 1999 he was awarded Franz Kafka Medal, European Circle Franz Kafka, Prague, Czech Republic. I believe Mr. Sorf is an artist of extraordinary imagination, skill and creativity. Magical realism reflects the neosurrealistic concept of non-consciousness, a free stream of imagination without a sense of control, vision being its magical component. Sorf developed a mysterious reality using technological motifs that depict common subjects. By depriving them of their contents, he changes the context of life and emphasizes the poetic character of painting. In new synthesis, Zdenek Sorf is influenced by other masters… mysterious paintings that redefine Velasquez and Botero. The spacious, suggestive canvases concentrate our view on a figure that has a dog's head expressing such humanity that we trust and love this being. Sorf divides large areas of some of the paintings with letters or numbers, dramatically bridging the new and the old. The Prague artist non - aggressively shows us an involved observation mixed with light irony. |
