Now that the contemporary art world has reached a point where even Damien Hirst seems tired of his own hype (he recently was quoted as saying “I don’t like conceptual art in the end…I’ve always thought that being a painter was better than being an artist or a sculptor“) and with the recent financial upheaval, we predict a turn away from art that’s all wit and hype and toward the authenticity for which we’ve longed for quite some time.

Nikola Nikola, Containing or Contained. Image: Alisonsmithgallery.ca

VoCA has become less interested in ‘emerging’ art, which can feel limited and underdeveloped, and more interested in work from outside the artschool-gallery-artworld scene.

Giorgio Morandi, Still Life (Natura morta), 1930. Image: photobucket.com/daquidelisboa

We’ve highlighted work by Vancouver-based Korean In Hyuck Song, whose website is HERE and the Sri Lankan artist Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan, whose work we really like.

Recently, we came across the work of Nikola Nikola at Alison Smith Gallery in Toronto.

Of his work, Nikola says:  “For me, the canvas is the stage, the battleground that provides fuel for an embryo to develop – to breathe with life. My materials are wood, metal, copper, wire mesh, wax, bones and skin. My techniques are weaving, polishing, drawing, painting and writing.”

Nikola Nikola, Death Angel Floats over Living. Image: alisonsmithgallery.ca

What we particularly like is the striking colour of his works, with their sophisticated use of form and texture. Reminiscent of work by the excellent Arte Povera artists and Francesco Clemente which in turn has an eastern feel, the works are well balanced and pleasing to the eye. Looking at the gallery’s website HERE, it is clear that the artist is focused on attempting to work out a challenge in over time.

Francesco Clemente, Experience of Love. Image: askart.com

We’ve long longed for the return of authenticity to art, and ever since we saw the Gorgio Morandi exhibit at the Met in New York last year, our focus has been clearly on the balance, proportion, texture, line and form of the image.

Nikola Nikola’s exhibition is on from November 12 - December 5, and opens again in January from the 14-30.