ART Blog Ely Magos

Artistportfolio


http://www.absolutearts.com/magoarts/


Eleanor Kennelly writes for ARTnews, Art & Antiques, and Art & Auction. She served as art critic and columnist for The Washington Times.

There is a strong, playful streak in Mago’s mixed-media paintings. A swaying lobster, a bird’s eye view of traffic, a seal tossing off colorful clothing¯these are carefree images made by a thoughtful artist who enjoys a sense of humor. Mago is Andreas Niederhammer. He’s a clever Austrian artist with a commanding variety of styles and interests.
Vivid yellow pigment makes a buoyant background for the funny picture Atlantis Undressed Seadog which can be read as a trained seal shedding speckled apparel in several directions. (The word seal in German is seehund, which can be translated into English, literally, as seadog.)
But it’s also a serious painting bringing together several important themes. First, it is part of the Atlantis series of paintings produced by the artist over the last few years. Atlantis is a lost paradise, first described by Plato in the 4th century BC as a continent which had sunk into the Atlantic Ocean. In Plato’s telling, Atlantis is not just a historical civilization, but a symbol of spiritual quest, especially, the quest for knowledge about the origin of the universe.
For Mago, the act of painting is a function of his spiritual quest, one which has led him around the world from New York to Finland, from Egypt and Israel to France and Ukraine.
In Atlantis Undressed Seadog, the eye is led dynamically from the central subject to radiating shapes, out and back, in order to solve the question, “What is going on here? What is this?” As human beings, we are constantly in his position: trying to make sense out of information fragments. In Mago’s piece, the title provides a narrative “hook” that gives the viewer one solution. The title is not essential, though. Between the contrasting colors yellow and gray, and the diagonal composition of shapes, the eye’s adventure is also the point.
In Jumping Whale, a tear-shaped form dominates the canvas. As a representative picture of a whale, it reduces the mammal to pure form, one step from abstraction. The painting is elegant in its simplicity. It zooms in on an aspect of whale-ness that is strange and remarkable: the ocean-living beast breathes air. It seeks a universe beyond the one it inhabits. As the artist does.
A similar piece compositionally is Atlantis Lobster. One bold shape animates the picture plane. Numerous pieces by Mago explore the relationship between form and function. For a crustacean, form is function. It’s efficient exo-skeleton allows it to survive and forage on the ocean floor.
In a pair of paintings, Forms and Colors I and New York City Traffic, we see an interesting relationship between abstraction and representation. Forms and Colors I is a lyrical study of organic shapes floating in a milky atmosphere. Red and yellow forms fill the foreground while black outlined boxes line up behind. It’s a kinetic composition that could signify chemical compositions, family relations, or anything else. Mostly, it is a pleasant un-decodable piece.
New York City Traffic features similar colors and forms: but here, parading black boxes move to the front and splotches of red and yellow ooze beneath. Because a viewer approaches the piece with a story in mind (assuming the viewer reads the title), an urban landscape appears immediately. This just shows how impressionable the mind is. Hanging on a few words, the mind conjures a picture and assigns meaning to it. As a painting of Manhattan traffic, the boxes become cars and the colored shapes stand for life obscured by regiment, or limit-breaking ideas that don’t conform to the rule-oriented metropolis.
Mago works in numerous styles. His work is representational, abstract, and symbolic. He paints portraits and makes sculpture. The very fact that Mago simultaneously exhibits work in various styles suggests that exploration and discovery are what propel him to make art. Since, ultimately, meaning and the search for it are the foundation of his art, most of his oeuvre is either recognizable, or titled to create strong associations.
When I first examined paintings from the Aleph series, I was at a loss. I didn’t recognize the shapes and without that knowledge I could hardly understand the work. Some research revealed what an interesting symbol this is.


Mago Introduction 1849, Alex Gallery
2106 R St NW 20008
Web site: www.alexgalleries.com
Tue-Sat 11-5 and by appt Dir: Victor Gaetan
National and international contemporary artists: painting, sculpture and drawing in representational, figurative, impressionist, abstract and expressionist styles. G/D/C
Artists exhibited: Connie Bryson, Frank Cappello, Olivier Debre, Madalina Nicola, Andreas Niederhammer, Hannu Palosuo, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Norman Rockwell, Linda Touby, Hans Versteeg, Maciek von Ato
Eleanor Kennelly writes for ARTnews, Art & Antiques, and Art & Auction. She served as art critic and columnist for The Washington Times.
There is a strong, playful streak in Mago’s mixed-media paintings. A swaying lobster, a bird’s eye view of traffic, a seal tossing off colorful clothing¯these are carefree images made by a thoughtful artist who enjoys a sense of humor. Mago is Andreas Niederhammer. He’s a clever Austrian artist with a commanding variety of styles and interests.
Vivid yellow pigment makes a buoyant background for the funny picture Atlantis Undressed Seadog which can be read as a trained seal shedding speckled apparel in several directions. (The word seal in German is seehund, which can be translated into English, literally, as seadog.)
But it’s also a serious painting bringing together several important themes. First, it is part of the Atlantis series of paintings produced by the artist over the last few years. Atlantis is a lost paradise, first described by Plato in the 4th century BC as a continent which had sunk into the Atlantic Ocean. In Plato’s telling, Atlantis is not just a historical civilization, but a symbol of spiritual quest, especially, the quest for knowledge about the origin of the universe.
For Mago, the act of painting is a function of his spiritual quest, one which has led him around the world from New York to Finland, from Egypt and Israel to France and Ukraine.
In Atlantis Undressed Seadog, the eye is led dynamically from the central subject to radiating shapes, out and back, in order to solve the question, “What is going on here? What is this?” As human beings, we are constantly in his position: trying to make sense out of information fragments. In Mago’s piece, the title provides a narrative “hook” that gives the viewer one solution. The title is not essential, though. Between the contrasting colors yellow and gray, and the diagonal composition of shapes, the eye’s adventure is also the point.
In Jumping Whale, a tear-shaped form dominates the canvas. As a representative picture of a whale, it reduces the mammal to pure form, one step from abstraction. The painting is elegant in its simplicity. It zooms in on an aspect of whale-ness that is strange and remarkable: the ocean-living beast breathes air. It seeks a universe beyond the one it inhabits. As the artist does.
A similar piece compositionally is Atlantis Lobster. One bold shape animates the picture plane. Numerous pieces by Mago explore the relationship between form and function. For a crustacean, form is function. It’s efficient exo-skeleton allows it to survive and forage on the ocean floor.
In a pair of paintings, Forms and Colors I and New York City Traffic, we see an interesting relationship between abstraction and representation. Forms and Colors I is a lyrical study of organic shapes floating in a milky atmosphere. Red and yellow forms fill the foreground while black outlined boxes line up behind. It’s a kinetic composition that could signify chemical compositions, family relations, or anything else. Mostly, it is a pleasant un-decodable piece.
New York City Traffic features similar colors and forms: but here, parading black boxes move to the front and splotches of red and yellow ooze beneath. Because a viewer approaches the piece with a story in mind (assuming the viewer reads the title), an urban landscape appears immediately. This just shows how impressionable the mind is. Hanging on a few words, the mind conjures a picture and assigns meaning to it. As a painting of Manhattan traffic, the boxes become cars and the colored shapes stand for life obscured by regiment, or limit-breaking ideas that don’t conform to the rule-oriented metropolis.
Mago works in numerous styles. His work is representational, abstract, and symbolic. He paints portraits and makes sculpture. The very fact that Mago simultaneously exhibits work in various styles suggests that exploration and discovery are what propel him to make art. Since, ultimately, meaning and the search for it are the foundation of his art, most of his oeuvre is either recognizable, or titled to create strong associations.
When I first examined paintings from the Aleph series, I was at a loss. I didn’t recognize the shapes and without that knowledge I could hardly understand the work. Some research revealed what an interesting symbol this is.

Mago Introduction 1849, Alex Gallery
2106 R St NW 20008
Web site: www.alexgalleries.com
Tue-Sat 11-5 and by appt Dir: Victor Gaetan
National and international contemporary artists: painting, sculpture and drawing in representational, figurative, impressionist, abstract and expressionist styles. G/D/C
Artists exhibited: Connie Bryson, Frank Cappello, Olivier Debre, Madalina Nicola, Andreas Niederhammer, Hannu Palosuo, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Norman Rockwell, Linda Touby, Hans Versteeg, Maciek von Ato
Eleanor Kennelly writes for ARTnews, Art & Antiques, and Art & Auction. She served as art critic and columnist for The Washington Times.
There is a strong, playful streak in Mago’s mixed-media paintings. A swaying lobster, a bird’s eye view of traffic, a seal tossing off colorful clothing¯these are carefree images made by a thoughtful artist who enjoys a sense of humor. Mago is Andreas Niederhammer. He’s a clever Austrian artist with a commanding variety of styles and interests.
Vivid yellow pigment makes a buoyant background for the funny picture Atlantis Undressed Seadog which can be read as a trained seal shedding speckled apparel in several directions. (The word seal in German is seehund, which can be translated into English, literally, as seadog.)
But it’s also a serious painting bringing together several important themes. First, it is part of the Atlantis series of paintings produced by the artist over the last few years. Atlantis is a lost paradise, first described by Plato in the 4th century BC as a continent which had sunk into the Atlantic Ocean. In Plato’s telling, Atlantis is not just a historical civilization, but a symbol of spiritual quest, especially, the quest for knowledge about the origin of the universe.
For Mago, the act of painting is a function of his spiritual quest, one which has led him around the world from New York to Finland, from Egypt and Israel to France and Ukraine.
In Atlantis Undressed Seadog, the eye is led dynamically from the central subject to radiating shapes, out and back, in order to solve the question, “What is going on here? What is this?” As human beings, we are constantly in his position: trying to make sense out of information fragments. In Mago’s piece, the title provides a narrative “hook” that gives the viewer one solution. The title is not essential, though. Between the contrasting colors yellow and gray, and the diagonal composition of shapes, the eye’s adventure is also the point.
In Jumping Whale, a tear-shaped form dominates the canvas. As a representative picture of a whale, it reduces the mammal to pure form, one step from abstraction. The painting is elegant in its simplicity. It zooms in on an aspect of whale-ness that is strange and remarkable: the ocean-living beast breathes air. It seeks a universe beyond the one it inhabits. As the artist does.
A similar piece compositionally is Atlantis Lobster. One bold shape animates the picture plane. Numerous pieces by Mago explore the relationship between form and function. For a crustacean, form is function. It’s efficient exo-skeleton allows it to survive and forage on the ocean floor.
In a pair of paintings, Forms and Colors I and New York City Traffic, we see an interesting relationship between abstraction and representation. Forms and Colors I is a lyrical study of organic shapes floating in a milky atmosphere. Red and yellow forms fill the foreground while black outlined boxes line up behind. It’s a kinetic composition that could signify chemical compositions, family relations, or anything else. Mostly, it is a pleasant un-decodable piece.
New York City Traffic features similar colors and forms: but here, parading black boxes move to the front and splotches of red and yellow ooze beneath. Because a viewer approaches the piece with a story in mind (assuming the viewer reads the title), an urban landscape appears immediately. This just shows how impressionable the mind is. Hanging on a few words, the mind conjures a picture and assigns meaning to it. As a painting of Manhattan traffic, the boxes become cars and the colored shapes stand for life obscured by regiment, or limit-breaking ideas that don’t conform to the rule-oriented metropolis.
Mago works in numerous styles. His work is representational, abstract, and symbolic. He paints portraits and makes sculpture. The very fact that Mago simultaneously exhibits work in various styles suggests that exploration and discovery are what propel him to make art. Since, ultimately, meaning and the search for it are the foundation of his art, most of his oeuvre is either recognizable, or titled to create strong associations.
When I first examined paintings from the Aleph series, I was at a loss. I didn’t recognize the shapes and without that knowledge I could hardly understand the work. Some research revealed what an interesting symbol this is.