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REVIEWS - DANIEL KAUFMAN
FRESH AIR FOR THE ART WORLD
By Daniel A. Kaufman, Ph.D.
It is refreshing to discover an artist who, although new to the scene, has no investment in the various fashions with which the contemporary art world is obsessed.
Xela is a breath of fresh air, and I use the cliche deliberately, for freshness is a quality that pervades all of his work. There is a vibrant, living quality to these pictures, whether they are landscapes, cityscapes, expressionist works, or even if they are entirely abstract.
What Xela has done is brought back some of the classic artistic genres and imbued them with new life. In part, he has accomplished this through an innovative, even perhaps a unique use of materials.
The pictures are initially drawn, in colored pens and inks, and then scanned into a computer. The various figures and shapes are then printed out on pieces of colored vinyl and the pictures are then reassembled onto the canvas.
The results are bright and bold and possessed of the shining quality that is unmatched in painting, other than perhaps, by oil on wood.
Some of Xela's best works, in my view, are his landscapes, almost all of which depict scenes from the American heartland.
It is interesting to note in this choice of subject matter that Xela is a European immigrant, although he has been an American citizen for decades, and like many immigrant artists (the late Aaron Copland comes to mind), seems able to see the essence of America with a clarity that is often lost on the native born.
In this regard, his choice of the heartland as the primary subject for his landscapes is very much apropos and several pictures stand out in particular.
"Missouri" ('98) depicts the plains, with their tall grasses and wildflowers, subtle contours and colors. Anyone who has tried to photograph this kind of landscape knows the difficulty involved in capturing its beauty, which is simultaneously understated and dramatic, yet Xela seems to do it with ease.
"Prairie Noon" ('00) is another such view, but this time from a greater distance, and here we see Xela's masterful way of rendering skies, using long strips of colored vinyl. The incorporation of a group of bison manages to add an element of romance, even patriotism, to the picture, a point that is made explicit in Red, White and Blue ('98), a close-up image of a bison grazing on the land, the bright Midwestern sun burning overhead.
Finally, "Prairie Weather" ('02), employing an element of abstraction and expressionism in its style that is absent in the others, conveys the menacing threat of Midwestern storms, with its great angry balls of low-hanging clouds, that almost touch the ground, so laden are they with rain and hail.
Xela also has a sense of humor, something that is conveyed in his Pop pieces. The humor however, is one that is shared with the audience, and unlike so much traditional Pop Art, one never gets the sense that the joke is at the expense of the viewer; that he is being used in order to earn the artist his "fifteen minutes of fame."
One such picture is the aptly titled "A Dog Too Can Dream" ('02), which depicts a multi-colored, very Warhol-like fire hydrant. In another picture the image of the fire hydrant is replicated across the canvas in different colors, again very much in homage to Warhol, but this time the humor stems from taking the hydrant in its role as the bane of urban car owners, as reflected in the title, "Definitely No Parking" ('02).
Some of Xela's comedic works straddle or entirely cross over into illustration, such as the funny and slightly racy "Petit Teton/Grand Teton" ('01), my first glance at which produced the sudden epiphany that Wyoming's most spectacular mountain range was indeed named after the French word for "tits."
"Call Elmo" ('02) requires a similar moment's thought in order to discern its humor, but when one realizes that the real-estate sign that gives the painting its name has no phone number on it, the moment is rewarded. Further meditation on the fact that the picture's setting is between the Arkansas and Missouri state lines makes one think that the sign's lack of a telephone number may not be a problem for Elmo, since everyone probably knows him, a realization that adds quaintness to the picture's comedic dimension.
Finally, "Whose Baby Are You" ('02) a work of illustration that really is children's art, is absolutely delightful in its rendering of the animal characters. Just as it is important to see the excellence in draftsmanship that lies underneath the abstract works of a modern painter like Picasso — something that we discover most breathtakingly when confronted with his drawings in pen and ink — the realization that Xela is a master cartoonist and illustrator adds both substance and credibility to his more abstract works.
Clearly, this man can draw, something that cannot be said of many of those who call themselves artists today.
The best of Xela's abstract works involve nothing more than the pure application of colors. "Lake" ('02) is the most effective of these, conveying both the coolness and the movement of water, with its narrow curving bands of green and blue. "Dunes" ('02) operates on much the same principle, with its yellows, oranges, and browns suggesting the contours of the desert sands.
Xela also has produced more traditional works of abstraction, including "Some Full/Some Empty" ('02) and "NY Dinner Party" ('02), two still-lifes that are reminiscent of Picasso. Yet, despite their fine execution, they leave me unmoved. Perhaps the problem is that they are too reminiscent of the Master and therefore lack the sense of newness that is so integral to Xela's best work. More successful in this regard is "Boulders" ('02), in which the hand of Xela shows strongly, despite the clear influence of Cezanne.
Finally, there are the works of expressionism, which, alongside the landscapes, are the finest things Xela has done. Each is a work of gripping power.
"Terror" ('02) employs some of the same stylistic techniques as "Prairie Weather," though towards a different end. The terrifying fury of its storm rains hail down on a cluster of cowering people, in a scene that has biblical overtones, but which comes across more generally as an allegory of fear.
More directly topical are "Aftermath I" and "Aftermath 2" (02), whose subject is the 2001 terrorist attacks that brought down the World Trade Center, and whose effectiveness lies in the utter simplicity of its conception, the minimal use of colors, and the American flag, which stands out tiny, yet defiant against the overwhelming wreckage.
Lastly, "Budapest 1944" ('02), a tribute to Rezso Kastner, who saved hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Second World War, stands out as a masterpiece, in the tradition of German Expressionism. It's centerpiece is an almost indescribable, angry swirling ball, cast in the black and grey of the uniforms of the SS, bearing the Nazi swastika and the crossed arrows of the Hungarian paramilitary Arrow Cross, as well as the names of the key players in the Kastner affair. Scattered around are teeming hordes of faceless people and in the background is the ominous silhouette of the cattle train, the terrible symbol of the Final Solution. A superimposed photograph of Kastner's face, his name scrawled in blue, and a dwarfed "Stop" sign, make "Budapest 1944" almost a political poster, in the style of the Secessionists, so that it manages to serve as an anthem to humaneness as well as a depiction of the terrible force of evil.
After viewing the catalogue, I am astonished at not only the breadth of Xela's vision and stylistic ability, but at the full span of emotions that are to be found in his works.
At a time when "authenticity" is purported to be a premium quality in an artist, one seldom encounters emotion in today's art that strikes the heart as real.
There is nothing of the "pose" of authenticity in Xela's work. When it is funny, it is because he is laughing. When it is patriotic, it is because he loves his country. And when it is tragic, it is because he is broken-hearted.
What more could one ask in an artist than this! I hope that he will continue to make these tremendous pictures and that they will be enthusiastically received, as they deserve to be.
Daniel A. Kaufman teaches philosophy and aesthetics at Southwest Missouri State University and is Editor of The Philosophical Forum: A Quarterly, published by Basil Blackwell.