Courbet gave many definitions to realism in art, such as "What my eyes see." Particularly relevant here is this declaration that confines painting to the domain of visible things: "An abstract, invisible object is not painting's domain." (from an 1861 letter) As it happens, precisely what Duchamp, from his youth, had endeavored to do was to turn away from such naturalism, leading the way toward what he once called "metarealism.
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"Every significant artist is a metaphysician, a propounder of beauty-truths and form-theories."
Involutionary art expresses the dissimulated frustrations and struggle of the unconscious self in his search for real identity trough the euphoric, sub mental symbolism of the art form an avocation of the soul that has little in common with the interdimensional identity of the self.
Conscious or mental art is inspired from the higher self, and is a channel for the dictation of the conscious science of art, instead of being simply a lower form of self-expression, a cultural artifact of relative value.
The mental artist has little need for unconscious expression and directs his creative ‘‘expiration’’ toward the exploration of higher consciousness trough his art, rather than simply entertaining a fictitious role, in part to quell the domineering impulses of the soul, and in part for the recognition of his peers. Art in its astral form belongs to our kind of civilization. We still need its contention that there is more to reality than appears at first sight.
Metarealism is synonymous to metaconscience, which means beyond our psychological consciousness, beyond a subjective psychological polarized view of reality.
Charles Sabourin is originally from Montreal, Canada and has been an artist for over 40 years. Charles is known around the world for his metarealistic paintings. Charles Sabourin's metarealism seeks to depict the reality wich exist beyond that psychological subjective perspective. Charles Sabourin's metarealism proposes not only to communicate further than the pictorial aspect of the perception of other dimension of reality, but also tries to depict the essence of those dimensions and their relation to us as human beings. Metarealism then becomes at tool for the evolution of consciousness; just like in the old day's artists painted sacred art to depict their vision of the reality they perceived trough their spiritual interpretation of other dimensions. Metarealism could be considered a sacred art, in that it also tries to depict, trough a metaconscious perspective, the essence of reality as perceived by a metaconscious mind. Meta meaning, a holistic view of reality as perceived by a supraconscious mind, who sees reality as a whole rather than from a subjective personalized intellectually fragmented point of view. Metarealism is the materialization in pictorial form of the reality of other dimensions and their direct effect, and relation upon us. Metarealism tries to depict the relations between those dimensions of reality and how we psychologically interpret them through our sub mental symbolism.
He studied with the painter Joseph Meisner from which he learned the basics of drawing and painting.
Metarealism is a new poetic and art form which, freed from conventionality, opens up onto the "other" side of metaphor, not preceding it like a literal, lifelike image, but embracing and transcending its figurative meaning.
"Meta," the common prefix for words such as "metaphor," "metamorphosis," "metaphysics," conjures up a reality that opens up beyond the metaphor, to a region where metaphor carries over or transfers its sense, beyond that empirical dimension from whence it took off. While Metaphorism plays with the reality of the actual world, Metarealism earnestly tries to capture an alternative reality.
Metarealism represents the realism of metaphor, the entire scope of metamorphosis, which embraces reality in the whole range of its actual and possible transformations. Metaphor is but a fragment or remnant of myth, whereas a metarealistic image (a unit of metareal poetry) attempts to re-establish mythic unity; it is an individual image that tries to converge with myth to the
extent possible in contemporary poetry. ________________________________________________________
who met in Ferrara that year. "Mystery" is the most familiar word of Chirico. He wrote the following: "there is much more mystery in the shadow of a man walking on a sunny day, than in all religions of the world". there were several other artists associated with them including Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964), Mario Sironi (1885-1961), and Filippo de Pisis (1896-1956). They aimed to depict an alternative reality which engaged most immediately with the unconscious mind. In this style of painting, an illogical reality seemed credible. Using a sort of alternative logic, Carra and de Chirico juxtaposed various ordinary subject -- typically including starkly rendered buildings, trains, and mannequins. Their alliance lasted less than a year and in 1919 all members of this group went into copying the paintings by old masters. Metaphysical Painting provided significant impetus for the development of Dada and Surrealism that was founded with the manifesto by Andre Breton. Their main slogan was following: the essence of things can be conceived not by reason but only using intuition. The philosophy of the unconscious of Freud became its philosophic basis. A lot has been said and written on surrealism. This direction in art exists no more, though some artists still work in surrealistic style.
"Metarealism" is a direction in Russian literature and art that was born in the seventies – eighties of the last century. The notion "metarealism" - (meta means "through") - philosophically speaking, this is metaphysical realism. Meaning realism of hyperphysical nature of things. The main expression of its essence is given with metabola (on the contrary to hyperbole) which means "transfer", "transition", opening many dimensions. Metabola is different from the symbol because it assumes the interosculation of realities. And metarealism has very little to do with surrealism, since it appeals to the superconscious and not to the subconscious, thus opening a multidimensional perception of reality.
Article by: Vika Bregeda
Translated: Alexander Mirgorodski
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What is Metarealism ?
In July 1911, a young Italian artist named Giorgio de Chirico made his way to Paris, to seek his fame and fortune. During the next eight years, he was to become one of the most influential painters of the Twentieth Century. His art, which was later called "Metaphysical", was to profoundly influence Magic Realists, Surrealists, and Fantastic Realists for many generations to come.
The young de Chirico, born in Greece, moved to Munich in 1906, where he studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts. There he studied the philosophies of both Nietzsche and Schopenhauer. He was initially attracted to the paintings of Arnold Boecklin. In 1908 he moved with his family to Italy where he found the inspiration for many of his early paintings in the piazzas of Florence, Turin and other Italian cities. Called the "Enigma" series, these paintings portrayed dreamlike, moody and mysterious cityscapes.
Metaphysics in the traditional sense referred to man's understanding of his existence and the nature of physical and mental being. However, de Chirico's concept of Metaphysical art came from Nietzche, who saw the mystery of life emanating from everyday objects. The role of the artist was therefore to portray the natureal chaotic or even nonsensical reality of the world. De Chirico referred to this as an ironic form of the Metaphysical. Rather than exploring the perceptible or natural aspects of objects, de Chirico's work presents the phenomenal, the cryptic and the mysterious.
There were three phases in the development of de Chirico's art. The initial "Enigma" paintings (also called Piazza d'Italia series) included trains, ships, clocks and statues, a highly metaphoric iconography. Gradually less obvious objects, such as mannequins, boxes, frames, and even gloves, were incorporated into his compositions in an intermediate phase. Finally, during his military assignment in Ferrara in 1917, de Chirico formed Pittura Metafisica with Carlo Carra. Paintings of this period were typically claustrophobic interiors filled with arcane objects, many of them found in and around medieval Ferrara. Other artists who became closely involved with de Chirico and Carra during this period were Giorgio Morandi, Mario Sironi and Fillipo de Pisis.
De Chirico's original vision was to fuse ancient myth with modern pictorial techniques. Yet around 1920 he became interested in the "Return-to-Order" trend that was sweeping through Europe. He studied the Old Masters and attempted to reinvent himself as a classical painter. During the rest of his career, he alternated between the academic and Metaphysical approaches.
Metaphysical art refers to a type of art that captures the mysterious in life. It is less about specific content, more about creating a mood. De Chirico compared his approach to one of poetics as compared with prose (narrative art). A number of artists during the twentieth century have been inspired in the same way. Each was interested in exploring deep emotional reservoirs within all of us. As a group they may be called Metarealists. Each used an individual pictorial style derived from Realism, but then adapted to the individual artist's Weltanschauunge (worldview). Metarealism may be used to refer to many types of art after 1920 which were influenced by de Chirico.
In addition to those artists associated with de Chirico in Ferrara, a number of Post World War I artists were influenced by his Metaphysical art. Notably, the early works of Max Ernst, Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali derive their enigmatical tones from seeing de Chirico's work. Each became an important figure within the Surrealist movement. Dali's work, in particular, adapted an atmosphere from early de Chirico. Work by many other artists between the wars was informed by de Chirico's approach. The compositions of Pierre Roy in France and Edward Wadsworth in England show direct influence from de Chirico. Also, de Chirico's brother, Alberto Savinio, began painting in the mid 1920s, contributing fresh, invigorated Metaphysical visions.
Edward Hopper's art may be considered to be related to Metarealism. His paintings capture the feelings of loneliness of the Depression era. Early in his career, he was effected by his studies in Europe prior to World War I, but he soon developed his own unique style and an American outlook. His work shares with de Chirico the economical rendering of forms and the use of strong, sometimes theatrical lighting. But more importantly his work shares the brooding mood with the early Metaphysical art, in particular by using de Chirico's major themes of mystery and melancholy.
Although he is often referred to as a Surrealist, Paul Delvaux avoided direct associations with the movement and remained an outsider during most of his career. He thought of himself as a Classicist. Exposed to the art of de Chirico in the mid 1930s, he was profoundly influenced. His paintings might be considered as elaborate mise en scène,with the actors and actresses (often nude) participating in dreamlike plays. Delvaux had a long and productive career, during which his art evolved but maintained a relatively small number of themes, mostly based in his experiences as a child and young adult .
Kay Sage, who is usually identified with Surrealism, was greatly influenced by de Chirico. Her fanciful landscapes are wistful and highly evocative. The work of her husband, Yves Tanguy, referred to as biomorphic non-representation surrealism, has the mood of Metarealism. Tanguy, who had no formal training as a painter, became inspired when he saw a painting by de Chirico during a visit to Paris in 1922.
Contemporary artist Claude Lazar explores the somber side of the city of Paris. He studied cinematic art after graduating from Fine Art school, but returned to easel painting a few years later. His work is full of dramatic light and shadow, which is reminiscent of the era of Film Noir. His art also has the feel of the French Realism of the 1930s and 40s, including Balthus, but its strongest influences come directly from Edward Hopper.
Metarealism might not be considered as a formal art movement, but at the very least, it is a significant artistic current. It's roots go back to the Renaissance. Elements of the enigmatic and the moody can be found in the art of Da Vinci and of Giorgione, in Goya, in the landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich, and in many works influenced by Symbolism. But it was de Chirico who brought it center stage in the world of modern art.
The impressionists where looking for the relationship of spots of color between them, this was interesting. However we need something more than solely this satisfaction of the vision; it is also necessary to create the world of things that one doesn't see.
Raoul Dufy
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The great artist is the formula for the greatest intelligence: to him the feelings arrive, the most delicate of translations and, thereafter, the brain's most invisible ones… All our five senses occur directly to the brain, impressed by an infinity of things.
Paul Gauguin
In other words, the painting is essentially of a significant nature and psychic : Gauguin sends it back to the painter's intimate being, a man of exception whose interior life is richer, and whose perceptions are finer; he receives his raw material more from within himself than from the outside world.
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"To be an artist is not a matter of making paintings or objects at all. What we are really dealing with is our state of consciousness and the shape of our perception...The act of art is a tool for extended consciousness." --Robert Irwin
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“There is no abstraction nor is there representation: there is only expression, and to express oneself is to look at things and face them. To abstract means to remove, to isolate, to separate, while my aim, on the contrary, is to add, to draw near, to bind.”--
Jean Paul Riopelle
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