78 3/4 x 124 1/8 in
Love - whooshing blood in dark veins. Love - spreading generously, shedding abundantly, superimposing itself. Love - bearing colors, animates the light and the shadows, purifies us for life itself.
'Splash of Love', the new picture series by artist Pal B. Stock, plays with all the many facets of love and life. As in his earlier work, Pal remains close to what moves us, exploring life and its ephemeral nature. For Pal, we cannot have life without death. All living, even love, carries the farewell within. The end, the depths of which we cannot know, will confront us.
We must live here and now and not postpone. We must concentrate on what is and not on what is about to come or what has passed. We shouldn't lose ourselves in the darkness of the past nor burn our wings in the glittering light of the future. It is the divine NOW that provides the power for transformation - the pulsing happiness of a gasp. There is no light if we deny the NOW.
Pal Stock's work is immediate, reminding us to live here and now. Pal is an artist who depends on the moment because of an irreparable sight issue. For him, all that is far away is lost in shades. He has a 'special spirit' that reveals much about his life: "My day, my work is shaped by the search for light". His personal visual perceptions are reflected in his art. Material plays an important role in this process. What is hard enough to endure so much life, so much love? What is flexible and soft enough so that they will not grow stiff? "What I touch should have a body!" Wood, glass, and wax are the elements that are brought together. They convey how Pal perceives the world. It is important for him to be strong, to deal with the material, to distinguish his work, and to remain true to himself all the same.
His pictures have nothing figurative and no rigid contours, but are interlacing, merging and, in a certain way, something conciliatory. His art displays an acceptance of what cannot be changed, and yet still contains the hope that enough time will be left to rebel.
Pal embraces red. Red is the color of revolution - of rebellion - of power. "I still have so much to paint, so much to tell, to give: inspiration, love, affection." You can feel the "heartbeat" behind his work. It is a beat of a pure lust for life - never superficial, but profound and deeply meaningful. Pal has moved away from the darker colors that shaped his earlier work. "I want color now, even in real life! I want to share my love." His images bear the Zeitgeist of love, which is so urgently needed in this world.
Jeannette Hagen
Pal B. Stock was born on 1964 in Debrecen, Hungary. He grew up in a poor, but loving, family in difficult times. The political climate and corruption ultimately forced him to leave Hungary in 1987. His first stop was Germany and then, in 1995, Pal moved to New York. In New York, he studied at the Parsons School of Art and Design, where he met an inspiring circle of artists and began to explore different media for his work. During this period, Pal developed his unique technique using beeswax, oil paint and wood. Working with beeswax had a powerful magnetic attraction for him. The molten wax evoked childhood images of reading and working by candlelight, the only source of light in his modest home. Now troubled with an irreparable sight issue, all that is far away for Pal is lost in shades. "My day and my work are shaped by the search for light." The backgrounds of his paintings are simple and monochrome, allowing the color and light in the foreground to be more powerful. His masterful technique allows him to craft a radiant glow that transcends the transparency of the wax. Pal has lived and worked in Berlin since 2010 and is a member of the Encaustic Art Institute in Santa Fe, USA, since 2000. His pictures are part of major private and public collections in the USA, Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom and France.
