Critical and Public Response
Every one of Cheval's paintings is a map of his journey into illusion. His work is often metaphorical and requires a sharp eye to decipher the hidden allusions. Figurative objects are used as symbols; the human form is often only alluded to. Instead of relying on cultural sources, he explores deep motives of unconsciousness that are easily understood because they are universal. He paints using the language of dreams, juxtaposing things that "should not" exist together in an often otherwise realistic style, making it easier to accept.
Cheval’s artwork is crafted with the virtuosity of great masters belonging to the Golden Age of Dutch art and conjures visions of supernatural domains, doorways into parallel realities, and glimpses into the world of absurdity (13). The irrational and the mysterious is expressed simply and clearly in his paintings, which are often similar to photographs. The familiar, however, is inevitably invaded by the unreal: unfeasible spheres, floating under the arches of gothic cathedrals, a violin sliding down the pipes, countless masks, continually changing and leaving their characters for different roles. Moments of time collide; threads from one world seep into another; life on its stage with the fine strings controlling our actions is caught, momentarily, like a photo somehow capturing the hand of God.
Each of his paintings leads its own individual existence. They come to life in a mysterious and magical way, and, after leaving their creator, they become viable entities that possess a spiritual force and an ability to initiate a dialog as well as to gather around itself groups of adherents.
Read more about this topic: Cheval Michael
Famous quotes containing the words critical, public and/or response:
“It would be easy ... to regard the whole of world 3 as timeless, as Plato suggested of his world of Forms or Ideas.... I propose a different view—one which, I have found, is surprisingly fruitful. I regard world 3 as being essentially the product of the human mind.... More precisely, I regard the world 3 of problems, theories, and critical arguments as one of the results of the evolution of human language, and as acting back on this evolution.”
—Karl Popper (1902–1994)
“The man who would change the name of Arkansas is the original, iron-jawed, brass-mouthed, copper-bellied corpse-maker from the wilds of the Ozarks! He is the man they call Sudden Death and General Desolation! Sired by a hurricane, dam’d by an earthquake, half-brother to the cholera, nearly related to the smallpox on his mother’s side!”
—Administration in the State of Arka, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The truth is that literature, particularly fiction, is not the pure medium we sometimes assume it to be. Response to it is affected by things other than its own intrinsic quality; by a curiosity or lack of it about the people it deals with, their outlook, their way of life.”
—Vance Palmer (1885–1959)