BIO

JIRI KOBOS

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Born in Bohemia, Czech Republic, currently living and working in Hermanus, South Africa

 

In 1987 Kobos moved to Asia making the final transition towards the form of ‘Abstract Expressionism’ as driven by the achievements of Frans Kline, Willem de Kooning and Lee Krasner. Yet it was the German painter, Hans Hoffmann and his teachings that over the years influenced my style to evolve in the pursute of my ambition, in the presence of individuality to form colour into non-objectivity and to create a visual and emotional impact with my expressions.

 

I aim to retain the boldness and contrasting palettes to feature the principles and characteristics of the modernists who present the craft of action and field abstraction.

 

Broadly brushed surfaces declare depth and volume with an intensity of colour, establishing abstract unities alongside the departure from conventionalism, taking on the role of subconscious in the perception and the interpretation of reality.

 

 

 

“Kobos’s paintings speak with great assurance because he eschews the sentimental. The inexorable impermanence of time, and the human fixation with constancy, are the thematic strands that hold his works together. Kobos tempers his cerebral impulses with the unencumbered forcefulness of his emotions. “I am stimulated by forms, dimensions and moods. I find it a challenge to represent a moment that makes me question myself.”

………Kannan Somasundaram, Writer and Art Critic, India