Caelis Galeria is pleased to present the exhibition “Anything” by contemporary symbolic surrealism artist Arol (b. 1974) from July 23th to August 23th. Driven by his experiences in graphic design and advertising industry, as well as his interest in digital art since the 90’s, Arol develops a unique visual language of painting. He tends to deconstruct the background and the depth of the painting, which leads his characters to stay alone on the stage he created in the silent and restless tone.
In this new series of paintings, Arol emphasizes a sense of theatricality. Through creating a void universe or deserted deserts, the artist sets up a series of surrealistic closed situations. Arol’s iconic figures are more or less experiencing some kind of feelings or events inside such closed situations. Surrealistic figures take shape. Everyday objects are given symbolic meanings and are juxtaposed to form a tension. By repeating “any” in work titles, Arol transforms the universe or the desert to a dual metaphor for the inner world and the real world, allowing viewers to project themselves into the iconic figures and their emotions.
Arol works with subtle brushstrokes and shows a preference for mild, dark tones in color. He paints oils on wood, while the application of the traditional painting technique is closely related to Arol’s early experience with digital drawings and giclée on cotton papers. These painting techniques share the methods of applying layers, which allows the earlier and latest works of the artist rendering in similar textures. The visual clues of sharpness and roundness also run through artist’s major practice in various periods. However, along with the artist’s shift to the integrated use of landscape, human and objects, the mood of his works has also moved away from the subtle expressions implied by the individual, turning to intensify the dual stage of sweetness and destruction constituted by the gravitational force of multiple elements.