Fledging and professional artists have had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enrich their artistic endeavors by studying with master European artist-in-residence Joze Ciuha.
Ciuha is here under the sponsorship of Galleria Jan of La Jolla, 1250 Prospect St., Suite B-21.
“This has been an exceptional, enriching experience for me to have such a professional discourse with extremely talented local San Diego artists,” Ciuha said. “I see phenomenal and brilliant talent in San Diego.”
One student was overheard to say, “Ciuha told me, ‘We will work to get your spirit free.'”
“We are the exclusive United States dealer representing this revered European/French artist and we are the agent for the Ciuha Foundation in the United States,” Gallery Jan owner Biljana Grcic-Beran said.
A native of Slovenia in Eastern Europe, Ciuha has studied art and painting around the world, including Austria, West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Poland and the Soviet Union. As his reputation as an international artist flourished, many national museums in all of the European countries now permanently display his works.
Not satisfied with the European experience, Ciuha continued his education and adventures into Macedonia to study Byzantine art and culture. He went on to study Buddhist art at the Rangoon University and extended his quest by visiting India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia.
From his visits, he returned with notebooks full of sketches, which became some of the giant-size contemporary pieces that continue to electrify and enthrall the artistic community throughout the world.
In 1965 he was a visiting artist at Western Michigan University. He used the university as a springboard and traveled throughout the United States and into Mexico, spending time in Mexico City. Many influences have broadened his repertoire that includes graphic art, mosaics and tapestry, and he is also is an author of distinction. Ciuha’s artistic passion is unending as he continues to experiment with new and self-created mediums all within a contemplative exercise in abstract expression, and often transcends convention with shocking effects in his monumental works.
Disjointed heads, arms and legs play a prominent theme in the artist’s enigmatic paintings. A face may have three dots representing the eyes as if two were not enough to take in the immediacy of the situation. The figures are deprived of real communication, painted with rich texture and exquisite colors punctuated with subdued tones. There is much on a single canvas to contemplate. It is difficult to separate the rich flow of tapestry with the graphic. His paintings integrate multiple cultures that may have a Byzantine effect melded with a Mexican Yalalag cross. On other canvases, it is the white space integrated with splashes of vibrant color that commands a sagacious review. Such is the worldly understanding of this quintessential spiritual artist of prophets and icons.
In his painting “Sad Yellow Morning,” a discombobulated figure with four hands, three dangling limply, and one leg with two feet, is suspended over a large anatomical form. With the yellow background indicating cowardice, what may have been the transgression that came to this? However, as in a multitude of Ciuha’s paintings, there is a cross ” implying redemption.
Ciuha continues to paint from a secluded island in the Mediterranean “… where the local fishermen and I get along just fine,” he said.
A reception for the artist is scheduled for Saturday, March 18, at 6 p.m. The public will have an opportunity to meet Ciuha. A piano concert with pianist Nikica Lesic begins at 6:30 p.m.
Ciuha’s works will be at the gallery through May 18. For reservations call (858) 551-2053, or e-mail [email protected].
