TEMO SVIRELY
(21.04.1964 - 21.10.2014)
“An artist paints not because he needs to make a painting. He is explaining certain things to himself and a painting is an aftereffect of that explanation. For example, you are interested in line or shape: you try to find it, to understand this line, shape, color. They are all interesting in and of themselves. The painting is what remains from it, like a trace in the sand.”
Temo Svirely was a Georgian-Ukrainian artist. Primarily an oil painter, he also worked in collage, penwork, printmaking, and mixed experimental techniques. Svirely has exhibited in 12 countries across Europe and North America. His works are held in private collections in over 50 countries.
Temo’s artistic path centers on being Human, reflecting on the pain, warmth, joy, and loneliness of human experience. A Human wanders through cosmos in search of oneself, facing life’s fundamental quality: impermanence. As a part of this reflection, Temo’s figurative paintings keep returning to the image of theater: his street performer, clown, and doll characters are full of sadness and soft humor, they are brave and heartbreakingly innocent in the face of the ever-changing world.
As the artist embraces impermanence, the present moment becomes the only way to genuinely engage with the world, making the “Here and Now” especially precious. Inspired by the impressionist movement, Svirely’s landscape and floral paintings capture the primordial joy of experiencing nature, fully grounded in the present.
Abstract art holds an important place in Svirely’s work, as he is drawn to the fundamentals: dot, line, and color. To the artist, they are not just tools for depicting some sort of narrative or plot, they are fascinating and meaningful on their own.
The artist studies and reflects on the world around him, from the fundamentals of color and shape to complex life experiences and events: immigration, war, love, fatherhood, loss, sickness, death, and a strive for freedom – artistic, political, and spiritual. Just as Svirely‘s characters smile gently to the impermanence from the canvases, the painting itself remains as a trace of the artist's journey through change, his life path and search.