Maturity
#25 Maturity perhaps is not the appropriate title for Sergej’s work after 1998. Sergej achieved maturity in his art an early age. Maturity is not necessarily measured in years. However, judging by his age, he is about to reach his “mature” artistic years. I would prefer to call this the “artist’s jubilee”.
The start of the new millennium marked a turning point in Sergej’s life and his work. He decided to exhibit his paintings in Europe and abroad. Actually he made this decision as early as his big exhibition in 1998: “When I saw the exhibition, when I hang the paintings – I knew that the energy was there, in that space. And I thought that it was time for me to broaden the horizons, to go abroad.”
#26 Since 1999 Sergej has painted and exhibited his paintings in Macedonia, Japan, China, Germany, Scotland, and the USA. These journeys have been significant. He met many people, participated in many exhibitions, made important contacts with new colleagues, and expanded his influences around the globe. With all the travel his art has never been compromised, indeed it has been strengthened. World art historian and theoretician Anthony Janson writes that “he is a top talent who deserves international attention… he uses a lot of paint directly from the tube or mixed on the very canvas, but a real masterhood control can be felt.”
#27 Travelling has left a mark on Sergej’s work. This is good. It demonstrates that Sergej is not a painter that feeds exclusively from the inside, but the paintings from these journeys contain this particular outside elements derived from his experiences. He remembers some of his completed paintings from abroad: from Paris where the grayness of an autumn day is transposed into beauty, from Istanbul based on stories of the bridge and the suiciders in the city, from the ocean in the USA where his blue phase and fish first appeared, from Bald Head Island where he introduced beach sand into his work, and from Japan the expressionistic calligraphy of his drawings.
#28 What is most characteristic for this period is the feelings of the joy of painting, and the freedom of expression. His canvases are literally bursting with positive energy, hunger for paint, and intoxication by the beauty of the moment… and an intoxication by life itself!
In this period of almost total release for Sergej as a person and as a painter, his life-long passion for a direct encounter with the canvas has been realized. From brushes to tubes to hands he embraced non-traditional techniques in his quest for a freedom of the spirit. Like the masters of the caliber of Pollock, DeKooning and Picasso Sergej’s soars above. He is one with the his ritual of painting… With the artwork in process.
For Sergej Andreevski process and painting are one. He has many more battles to fight… more paintings to paint.
#29
Instead of a Conclusion
Sergej’s artistic career is a testimony that painting is not dead. His vibrant and vital canvases prove that painting is very much alive.
In an environment of traditional Macedonian art, and the faddishly popular new art forms, Sergej’s paintings rise above the noise. His work deserves a special respect in this old world that is moving at such a fast pace.
Sergej Andreevski’s place in the international art world is important. He represents Macedonia and Macedonian traditions in a new and exciting way. His work belongs in the universal world artistic family of high values and lasting quality.
Translated by: Maja Hadjimitrova-Ivanova