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Vaclav Vaca: Visionary Surrealist
Saginaw Art Museum Presents
Artistic Retrospective
By Robert E. Martin
Vaclav Vaca is an artist equally informed by the conscious beauty of the natural world as he is inspired to depict not simply the forms of beauty, but the sources of beauty on a symbolic level. Born a few months after the communist takeover of his native Czechoslovakia, Vaca entered the Prague Conservatory, which made it possible for him to escape the inevitable bondage of life on a collective farm. There he studied ballet and became a professional dancer, before pursuing his fascination with visual art.
While dancing in Paris with his company,
he stood on a street corner and decided to become an expatriate and
leave for America. Through this existential action, the pattern of
achieving independence through pursuit of his dream was forever
imprinted, and when he began a new life in Canada in 1969, he taught
himself to paint.
Presently, The Saginaw Art Museum
is presenting a 30-year retrospective of Vaclav Vaca's visionary
surrealist paintings that features more than 50 of his works and will
run through March 5th.
Surrealism, which is a 20-th century
artistic movement that attempts to express the workings of the
subconscious as characterized by fantastic imagery while employing a
traditional manner of Western painting technique, is perhaps most widely
recognized through the works of artists such as Salvador Dali.
However, Vaca's work is distinctively unique by the spiritual twist to
his renderings, as one of his key goals is to explore "The poetry and
the mystery of things we take for granted in the everyday world."
"My urge to start painting was born from
a deep desire to find roots after abandoning all I knew and loved in my
native country," explains Vaclav. "I did not choose or experiment with a
style because when I started to paint, I found a natural voice without
trying. It seemed to have found me. Both the style and subject matter
were not a conscious direction, but a natural one. Symbols are windows
of entry to bring you to a larger understanding. I feel that my art does
not seek to persuade so much as transform. I want to seduce people by
beauty."
When asked what he feels the 'job' or
'purpose' of a visionary surrealist is, Vaclav is reflective. "One thing
everybody asks about my work is 'what does it mean?' I've been saying
for 30 years that I still don't know how to answer that question. Every
painting means something else and opens into its own little world. I
try to show that the world is a real, amazing, magical, and mystical
place; but only if we have the eyes to see it. In my paintings, I try to
open people's eyes, and my own, to things we might take for granted. In
short, I believe visionary surrealism attempts to portray things that
are not on the surface, but shimmering underneath, to share a feeling of
mystery & meaning that takes you to a deeper awareness."
Does Vaclav feel that his work has
evolved to a marked degree over the expanse of his 30-year career? "I
was one of those few people blessed with a very definite style from the
beginning," he responds. "Technically one does improve over the years,
but the vision itself never really changed. We are conditioned to think
of artists in terms of periods, but I believe historically, artists are
fairly well set in what they do, because what they do is who they are.
Look at DaVinci, he never really changed that much - you could see that
little smile in all of his work."
Given his background of growing up in a
country dominated by the iron hand of communism, does Vaclav feel that
experience impacted his work in subconscious ways? Very often great art
grows out of devastation and traumatic environments experienced during
formative years.
"One interesting thing that I feel
connects with surrealism is that because I grew up in a small country
under communist control, many artists I've talked to from Czechoslovakia
is how the predominant artistic expression for them is surrealism. I've
always wondered if there is
something in the national makeup that
makes us this way. But I think that growing out of a situation makes you
see the world in certain terms."
In terms of symbolism, does Vaclav feel
that we learn anything from symbols, or do they simply remind us of the
mystery inherent in life?
" I think symbols are like little entry
ways or 'people' that allow me to see everything the way it is," he
reflects. "We see something that is beautiful, but may not grasp what is
around us. We are often like somnambulists and half asleep. This is true
with music as it is with art. It awakens something inside of us to see
the world in a more comprehensive way, and a symbol is something like
that. It wakes you up a little bit. It's like a miniature cup of
coffee."
"I paint extraordinary and strange things
to show how fantastic and amazing even the simplest things are when
truly seen," he continues. "Imagination is the freedom to enter the
world of the spiritual, like a passport. The search for freedom is a
journey, but so is the search for faith. Every painting is a journey,
too - a journey into the unknown, even for me."
"What I love about this exhibition in
Saginaw is the opportunity to see the totality of my work over the
expanse of 30-years. In many ways, it is like going to meet yourself
because you see the relation of your work in relation to your self."
When asked what he feels is the biggest
challenge an artist faces, Vaclav laughs. "Just to keep growing and
moving forward. Very often when I finish a new work I realize that you
transcend yourself a little. You ask yourself is what I've created
better than what I can actually do, and can the next painting be as good
as the last. It's like Cezanne painting his apples. You try one more
time to get it right. Everything really wonderful is almost
unattainable, but you have to reach for it."
Vaclav Vaca: Visionary Surrealist (A
Retrospective 1975-2005) is currently running until March 5th
from Wednesday through Saturday 10 AM - 5 PM; Sunday 1 - 5 PM,
with extended hours until 8 PM on Thursday evenings. Admission is
$5.00 for adults. Museum members and children under 16 are Free.
Wednesdays are free to all visitors.
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