Robert Bluj Painting

Space and figure are the main fulcra of Robert Bluj’s paintings. He modifies them by changing the relation between figure and space, colors, and proportions. Cold taciturn space and torpid figure, no emotion, no dynamic motion, no intercommunication. Inclusive figures get stiffened in time and space, and only in rear cases the attribute, as the evidence of figure symbolism, appears beside the lonesome figure.

The anatomic expediency of a figure makes them infringed, i.e. naked figure of a woman or a man gets stiffened in the presence of audience, face to face. Bloodless and disarmed, undressed for the first time, they find themselves as in the courtroom. Hip curves, fragile shoulder blades, spine curvature frozen in front of the unknown substitute. The sensorial beauty of cera, - traditionally attractive feature of nudes, is being smothered. Minimized style of painting, miserly range of colors, figures without any cultural attribute makes us not only admire, but also inquire into. Relatively chamber formats obey the inward nature if this painting.

By rejection of sweeping expressive dabs, Bluj can pay greatest attention at color. His colors are juicy, deep, filled with hardly explained mysteriousness, as fabrics the beauty of which changes depending on illuminations. Delicate painting surfaces are hardly tangible, but tactile. Minimal demand for colors, antithesis of chromatic and achromatic colors, for example white and blue, and contrast bright color relations serve for idea realization, in order to expose the relations of figure and space, or on the contrary – to eliminate the limits separating them. The work of arts seem as completely finished, though they could be improved more and more. For the rendering of the monumental color relations the painting technology, when oil paint is mixed into wax and dab texture, is used. Within many painting seances the painting layers smoothly cover each other and plastically cohere in the form of certain light, but tangible structures.

Creating painting images, Bluj forces the audience not only to identify itself, but also to seek for personal and cultural paraphrases. Proportionally each figure has been created as equivalent or close to the audience. Such human scale opens the way for communication with outward. Superficially the figures resemble the figural compositions of Egon Sheel. There are also parallels with the figural compositions of secession masters. The figure pictured by Bluj is a capacious symbol and reference to something else. In the artist’s paintings by rejection of external signs the atmosphere of expectance, future event or, eternity simply has been created, and the works of art may be named as the metaphors of expectance.

Saulė Mažeikaitė