Contemporary Artist Anton Psak and his Close-Ups

Anton Psak is a contemporary artist, using autobiographical narrative as the source inspiration for his latest works. Drawing from psychoanalytic theory related to the collective  unconscious and the symbols it produces in the form of ‘mind-scape,’ the foundation of his work can be found in the emotional content of his life. The feelings and the experiences provide a framework in which he discovers the characteristics of intense emotions and how these are related to sensory driven experience.Psak draws from the work of Gerhard Richter and Jacques Lacan, retrospectively informed by psychoanalytical thinking, he looks at the mutual connection between Richter and Lacan and their interpretation of the real. As once stated by Richter, “Illusion – or rather appearance, semblance – is the theme of my life.” Richter’s suspicion about the ‘real’ in painting is similar to Lacan’s questioning of the ‘real’ in verbal communication–a view that Psak shares and explore in his own paintings.

Psak’s aim is not to pass on ideas to the viewer, but to create the piece of work, able to stand on its own so that the viewer is able to deal with the artwork on their own terms. In terms of his technique, he uses a variety of techniques and mediums, developing a method of combining both wet-on-wet painting and glazing techniques, building the picture plane through many layers.

Psak draws from his life experiences in his paintings to bravely and hopefully originally make artwork. He states that he does not want to impose meaning, but rather hopes to preserve the ‘meaning’ he has put into the painting.

In the series  of “close-ups,” the anonymity of the subject is preserved by the fact that the name of the painting doesn’t appear in the title, freeing the viewer from the limitation imposed by “knowing,” providing a space for the gazer to imagine and see themselves, thorough the artist personal process of life narration. The artist believes the title reduces the subject to a signifier and divests them of the true dimensions of their identity.  Check it out!