Many generations of artists have looked into the mysteries offered by spiritual writings and belief systems. At the end of the 19th century, interest in mysticism was fused with the genesis of abstract painting. An astonishingly high proportion of artists working since then have been involved with these ideas, and their art reflects a desire to express spiritual, metaphysical ideals that cannot be necessarily expressed in traditional pictorial terms. Armando Alemdar Ara’s art fits in this category, but one is faced with considerable difficulty when trying to pinpoint any visual influences on his art.
The writings of Plotinus, who is arguably the first mystical thinker in Western philosophy, have affected Armando’s esoteric belief that visible forms occur at the lower stages in the material world and are but a distraction on the path to Truth. The insistence that actual reality must be free from recognisable (visible) forms is a recurring theme in later mystical traditions. Armando does precisely this in his painting: he reduces the importance of recognisable form, allowing ‘higher’, abstract form to come through. In this exhibition, Armando aims to represent the inner experiences of spiritual reality behind but not beyond corporeal forms. Beauty is produced by an inner need that springs directly from the soul.
We need time to observe Armando’s art. As we do so slowly, the paintings unravel a little more. Numerous layers over layers of paint reveal but sometimes conceal the forms. Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, at times, Armando presents us with figures that are androgynous; they can be either male or female.
Armando’s works are visual statements of thoughtful and creative imagination and deep reflection into the true nature of reality and the presence of Spirit. A sensation of depth prevails in Armando’s pictures, a spiritual depth and artistic depth as opposed to total abstraction artists such as Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky, achieved by gradual simplification and dematerialisation of form. Armando’s abstraction never really disposes of physical form altogether. This is firstly because of Armando’s essentially Renaissance belief that the human figure is ‘a measure for all things’. One of the most remarkable qualities of Armando’s paintings, apart from the impressive usage of colour glazes, is the achievement of harmony between dynamics and tranquillity.
After revisiting the more figurative for the past few years, in Transcendence, Armando has returned to somewhat more abstract work while maintaining a parallel continuity between abstract and figurative elements, the two always evolving around each other, born onto one another in a constant play of inner and outer. In the finished painting, we can sense the perpetual metamorphoses of the human figure and its energy.
Private Viewing: Thursday, 20th April 2023
