Devis Grebu



Ruled by a despotic har- mony, ambiguous growths  spread out leaves, flowers and fruits in a barbaric geometry, rigid yet sinuous. Animals growl, birds rasp, insects nibble, horns honk in the wild urban clangor. Angry blazes of arrow- headed plants, polished and serrated… cold jungles of smooth concrete… all of these spaces haunted by enigmatic monsters, born of reason and chaos. Who- ever presumes to linger in the shade of these per- verse forests will have his brain digested away and turned into puzzled chloro- phyll.

Yvette Metral

in Devis Grebu:
"Through an artist’s eye”
(Rizzoli monograph)

While I use symbols in my paintings, I don't think of myself as a symbolist. Nor do I consider myself an artist of the absurd. As I said, I refuse to specialize or consider myself part of a movement or trend. To me, "style" is the unique way in which an individual discards the inessential. It is the combination of general culture and vocation. General culture (studies and encounters) opens and enlarges the horizon of your mind. It enables you to use a richer "vocabulary", to discover greater reality. It is the nutritional substance you carry in the depths of yourself, your personal "resources". (D.G.)


"Once seen, the paintings of Devis Grebu are not easily forgotten. The Romanian native has perfected his formula of scattering comic, folksy images across a surreal world, while making a rational statement about a particular issue affecting the planet. The viewer looks, then looks again with expanding curiosity into the context, the technique and the impishness of the artist." Excerpt from an article in „The New York Times“

Oil pantings

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He is not only an outstanding draftsman, but an interesting painter. Abstract, symbolist, surrealist…? He is all three at once… Devis Grebu's heroes are gracious, secretive… light ethereal compositions, without mannered formulae or provocations, always retaining a sense of measure. In this respect they seem even more authentic and genuine. Using a rich and generous palette, Mr. Grebu creates mazes and symbols of life, at times enchanting and flavoured interiors of mysterious irony, at times stylish compositions reminiscent of the Italian painter Massimo Campigli. While his compositions may appear abstract, they do not for this reason renounce the laws of the cosmos. A human presence is felt throughout… communion between men …the fantastic and shy birds with an exterior world. Humorist, philosopher in his own way, and delicate colorist, the pictorial qualities of Grebu's work are expressed with total sincerity.

Zvi Sas – Art critic, about Devis Grebu's one-man show at the "New Gallery" - Tel Aviv - 1972

 
 

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