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“The Orient is everywhere. Its image represents the conflict between metaphysics and it’s enemies, who are the enemies of freedom and contemplation”
Rene Guenon The Revolution First and Formost 1928
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Detail “Orient 3” |
The Alchemy of Asia
In the ongoing evolution of Gentile’s diverse body of work, a broad pattern becomes apparent. The early work of the artist thunders with bold, literal imagery shouting primary colours, large brush strokes and hard edges. The most recent works, however, dance with the intangible qualities of the ephemeral, the emerging, the partially obscured and the unknowable. Hanging in the silence between the still clear notes of form and space, one hears secret whispers... barely audible.
Painting is a process personal to every artist. The created imagery may posses a universal appeal, and social relevance can be achieved if the imagery resonates within the broader social contest. Humankind has always needed artists to provide the imagery that others cannot or do not make themselves. This imagery represents some of the myths that guide us unconsciously through our personal journeys, and we use these familiar icons to anchor us in a language that is readily communicable. The West’s current preoccupation with Eastern symbolism can most recently be traced to the turn of the century. An exodus of Eastern teachers going West and seekers from the West travelling East began a meaningful exchange of cultural imagery.This imagery takes on conative meanings more powerful than its literal definitions. Arguably the most powerful conative meaning of Eastern iconography in Western culture is its indecipherability... a compelling invitation!
It is precisely this imagery, this mysterious ambiguity of Eastern symbolism stirring in the Western imagination, which becomes such a powerful tool in the hands of an artist seeking to communicate the unknowable. Western imagery, to the Western mind, is overloaded with literal definition and frequently unwelcome associations and, |
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if powerful, is often co-opted for advertising uses, thus leaving the 21st century artist to search among utilitarian imagery for something fresh to express himself with, such as Campbell soup cans! This series of seven works on canvas incorporating acrylic, mixed media and collage elements are marked by a powerful atmosphere of mystery and veneration. Some bespeak the solitary journey of the soul, spiritual inspiration, earthly temptation and the renewing cycle of life and death. Others cast a broader net; incorporating historical context and collective experience, but even these stay strictly within the subjective perceptions of the artist. The series could be summed up as the personal impressions of a traveller from the West willingly caught in the surging currents of Eastern culture, history and philosophy, but maybe this would be too facile? The artist is touching on something further away than historical beginnings, closer to our hearts than philosophical conflicts and beyond the reaches of abstract conception. He is travelling into the sublime realm of mystical inner space — the infinite — and the fathomless void of the inexplicable, at once both empty and full.
This series is socially relevant when seen in the context of the artist’s intentions, reflecting both the conflicts and some of the wonderful things that blossom from our personal journeys. Certainly it endeavours to provoke questions, but even in the most clearly narrative painting ‘Sino’, the questions remain unresolved.
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