Cool Abstract Art

When we speak about abstract art we usually imagine a splash of colors and forms, swirling shapes, an array of colorful patterns... Abstract art has been with us for almost a century now and has proved to be a vital tradition of creativity. As a legitimate art form, abstract art judgment was settled more than a century ago. Abstract art as we know it is something detached from reality, it is about form, color, line, texture, pattern, composition and process. These are the qualities of artwork because they describe what the art looks like and how it is created. A beautiful thing about it is that abstract art is open to interpretation. Abstract art doesn't declare what It is all about. Instead, it requires you to open your mind; you have to enter the painting and feel where it takes you. Abstract art empowers you with the freedom in work exploration. The viewer can assign his own meaning to the piece. This very personal process enriches the experience of an artwork by the viewer.

New abstract art paintings

In this article we will introduce you to a new generation of abstract art as it has never been achieved before. Usually, an abstract artwork will carry a title like “Untitled” or something universal or generalist as the artist is not used to assigning their own meaning to what they create, they would let the viewer explore. The artist we are about to introduce is doing vice-versa. Each of his works will carry a title that exactly points to the subject depicted, despite his art is abstract. The transformation of characters into symbols is one of the features of the works he signs. The image for the representation of the real is designed with symbolic functions through attitudes and interacting with the ambient space.

Left to right Pride Parade (2016), Rosa Parks (2016)

The Muse

“My muse has always been Solitude. Solitude as the living character, as a trustworthy interlocutor. It overwhelms you with gifts when you understand and appreciate it. And I describe it to the world from this perspective. I transform both pleasant and unpleasant experiences into symbols. The symbols appear spontaneously, but I believe that is in what the success of an artwork resides. The beholder, in order to understand my works, is invited to a game of chess with two adversaries, so to speak: precisely, they must play also with me, and with the leitmotif of each painting. It is a chessboard on which all the pieces are kings and queens. Thus, I invite the beholder to emerge from the quotidian, from the here and now, and enter the universe which I have created in my work. Only this way can they understand,“ says Gherghe Virtosu.

Zainab bint Muhammad (2016)

The idea

“Hopeless loneliness started me off. It gave me the motivation and the respite to turn a new leaf in my life and here I am today. It was incredibly challenging. Imagine being unjustly vilified and having to undergo a punishment for it; some people chose to commit suicide under those circumstances and you can hardly blame them for it. Besides, it was not the sort of place conducive to art. But what does not kill you, makes you stronger, and today I am convinced that the strength which I gained from that experience comes across in my works. I had an urge to express my feeling and frustrations and it came up in form of canvas.“ says Gherghe Virtosu.

The statement

“Art is an effort to fill an empty space with the expression of an idea. A work is born through the artist as the medium, melding order out of a disparate landscape in an intellectual exercise. Freedom from boundaries opens possibility in the form of the medium and the breadth of the artist to reveal wholly new ways of seeing. The truth in the revelation creates an opportunity to shape the colors of paint in an exercise that is not only the experience of art but life.”, Gheorghe Virtosu.

The artist

After quitting his military career in 1992 he went to London where he acquired British citizenship. He developed an interest in Abstract painting and writing. Virtosu lives and works in London, Amsterdam, Luxembourg. Having lived through the Cultural Revolution, Virtosu often focuses on his knowledge experience in his work. He depicts social phenomena and characters in abstract style. He has developed a truly own style so his works are unique and carry the stamp of originality.

Left to right Baptism of Jesus (2016), Travestite (2016)

Oil painting on canvas

- Why oil painting on canvas?

"Oil would not rub or flake off, wouldn't wash away if it got wet, would resist most staining or color changing. It is essentially permanent. The canvas, that is relatively soft, flexible cloth medium that could stretch, tear, absorb paint - allows oil to adhere well, and creates a bonded structure that makes the painting even more permanent. Finally, the medium is beautiful."

Abstract oil painting

- Why abstract oil painting?

“My works are part of a complex coding, a method of processing my experiences. I sketch in blue and red pen on white paper, a story-coding style I have developed while serving in the military. As the process continues — sometimes slowly over a year or two, oftentimes in my dreams — colors are added to the original sketch. My images spring from a psyche enriched with a broad and experienced worldview. Each piece is singular, yet each carries a genuine complexity of meaning within which can be found the means to decipher the image itself. My imagery can be puzzling and other-worldly, though while my paintings — my characters — may tell little of themselves, they tell much of the world of which they are a part, the world of complexity and variable motivations in which we all live our lives.”

The source of life (2016)

Large abstract canvas art

“My works are of different sizes, however, I feel accomplished and happy when I create large abstract canvas art. Large usually are works lengthier or wider than a meter and a half. These works are more difficult to keep control over, however, a big canvas makes a statement and that statement is really powerful when someone for real has something to say.“

The Magician (2016)