Universe in the State of Alpha – Jacob Klintowitz 

Universe in the State of Alpha

JACOB KLINTOWITZ

For a moment we find ourselves struggling to separate that which forms woman and that which shapes the landscape’s spheres. Worlds upon worlds make this a mythical scene devoid of conventionality.

Here and there, once the scene is absorbed, the breasts and face reveal a woman. But what kind of woman is this, shaped from the stars?

This painting, by Bruno Sfeir, is characterised by its high precision. The images are highlighted with clarity by his determined design; delicate chromatics unite the subjects within a bustling rectangle in which we can see a work of extraordinary certainty.

This scientific approach to his work is precisely what accentuates the originality of the images created , his uniqueness and the perpetual sense of the unknown.

A glimpse of a peculiar iconography that doesn’t fail to surprise as it is revealed time and again.

It is possible that this woman is made from more than just the star-dust of dreams.

The paintings of Sfeir alter the limits of conventional understanding and in them we live in the chimera, in the innovative poetics that interweave logic with new connections.

Landscapes, objects and beings make unexpected combinations. For Bruno Sfeir, these are intriguing  and show something new of himself.

Landscapes, mythical scenes, imaginary scenes, immemorial fragments of abrupt lights. Perhaps a self-portrait of the artist himself when he was still young…

Instigators for the artist himself?

In this case, that he is the first eyewitness.

There is a distinct distance between the artist in the creative act and the contemplative artist.

The observation of the work requires wit and detachment from it, an ability to remove parts of the artist’s own language.

The beholder is similar but at the same time different from the painter. When creating, the artist awakens, becomes more integrated and receptive.

From the obvious biographical experience of our time comes the easy conclusion that the artist is superior to man.
Bruno Sfeir is moved by discoveries. This is what motivates him. His art brings awareness, promotes the existence, organizes correctly and makes visible what was before only sensed.
In this case, intuition is so present, that it presides over the movement, directs the painter in his ongoing effort, bringing forth that which is hidden within himself.

It is the reason for Sfeir’s intense pictorial production, this succession of images and particular scenes.
And intuition dominates the invention of his paintings in such a way as to be thier own fuel.
The reality of art is inferior when compared with intuition and is an effort to make these two acts in the world, the concrete appearance and the prescient insight of the form, identical to the fundamental stimulus of Bruno Sfeir and of all true artists.
Sfeir makes it visible but not intelligible.

It is, without question, an account of the dawn of the spirit.
Do not imagine that the process of this artist is simple image association, far from it. It is a process of cultivated elaboration and introspection.
Before us is not an automatic script or a significant image association, but rather a method of creation in which the artist removes the obstacles obscuring its perception and connects with the immediacy of the images, while maintaining control over their activity.
The discourse is that difficult cohabitation between availability and garnered knowledge: one of the virtues of the artist.
It is evident that Bruno Sfeir’s painting is infused with surrealism. But, while a strong manifestation of the subconscious pulls his work towards this movement, there is another that escapes it, as his approach is personal and distinct.

In general it is but a meeting of irrational vertices. In particular, a unique iconography, the construction of a group of personal images.

Finally, after the establishment of profound psychology as daily fact, standardization of concepts of the individual subconscious, collective subconscious, archetypes of the comparative history of religions, of mythology as a way of consciousness; practically all art forms use, in their creation, matter originating in the subconscious and in civilizations past.
Victoriously, Surrealism dissolves in the body of culture.
Bruno Sfeir’s true artistic family is that of the official travelling artists.
Respectable are those who, before the innovation of instant photography, accompanied scientific expeditions recording flora, fauna and social life.
This art developed into records to leave a formidable collection for humanity. Some prominent examples are; Thomas Ender, Johan Moritz Rugendas, Albert Eckhout and Henry Chamberlain, among many.
But, I have always considered the independent recording Oceania, by Paul Gauguin, to be the most emotional. And above all, the recordings by Leonardo da Vinci of the research his own curiosity would establish.
It is from this source that a new family of artists emerge, travellers who determine their own area of investigation.

What of art will now be the new emerging focus of our times if not the living perception of capturing and recording a lasting image, and the expansion of the limits which surround our concept of reality.
The journey is within oneself. Art is a journal of the most formidable entries, the discovery of oneself.
Adjoin high and low, heaven and earth; God and man.
The artist is his own subject of investigation. To paint is, in this particular instance, to limit the universe within a determined space. The world is a rectangle.

There is a place beyond our comprehension, where lies our true knowledge and from which one can contemplate the universe as a whole.

This is somehow the true function of art. Along with and beyond the chronicles that are our daily lives.

The universe in the state of Alpha.

Bruno Sfeir feels he has a melody, a melody that at times discloses a chord or two. This is his music and one which he will always be in search of.

This highly personal repertoire can be found in all of us, at least in part. It is what permits  recognition.
And if that music were entirely unknown, it would be so forever.

About Bruno Sfeir

Bruno Sfeir estudió en la Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes de Montevideo – Uruguay, posteriormente se forma con discípulos del maestro Joaquín Torres García y en el Club de grabado de Montevideo. Si bien su pintura toma elementos del constructivismo de Torres García, su proximidad al movimiento surrealista es aún mayor. En su obra, la intuición preside el movimiento revelando a cada paso una iconografía peculiar que elude rápidas conclusiones. Nos encontramos con un trabajo de carácter introspectivo que se manifiesta a través de un viaje interior. Una búsqueda incansable que despierta en el artista un interés por culturas milenarias de enseñanza y espiritualidad. En el año 2000 se traslada al Líbano, (país de origen de su abuelo paterno y gran impulsor de su creatividad) y más tarde al Golfo Pérsico, Egipto y Marruecos. Este es un punto de inflexión en la vida del pintor; pues su obra se impregna de ese perfume oriental, un aroma que perdura hasta en su más reciente producción. Actualmente Sfeir reside en España donde continúa con su prolífica producción. Bruno Sfeir studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Montevideo - Uruguay, subsequently founded, along with students of the teacher Joaquín Torres García, the Montevideo Engraving Club. Although his painting takes up elements of constructivism from Torres Garcia’s, its proximity to the surrealist movement is even greater. In his work, intuition leads the motion, revealing in every step a peculiar iconography that avoids quick conclusions. It is a job of introspective nature that manifests itself through an inner journey. In 2000, after an untiring search that awakens an interest in ancient cultures of teaching and spirituality in the artist, he decides to move to Lebanon, (country of origin of his paternal grandfather and great promoter of his creativity) and later to the Persian Gulf, Egypt and Morocco. This is a turning point in the life of the painter; because his work is impregnated with that oriental perfume, an aroma that lingers even in his latest production. Sfeir currently lives in Spain where he continues with his prolific production.