Some of the best visual art today is being created on public walls, in garages, basements and on large conveyances. Some is done legally and by commission but a lot of it is what some would classify as vandalism. Street art is really coming into its own around the world and especially in Europe. One of these phenomenal street artists is Lonac of Croatia.
Without doing a lot of reading or listening to interviews with Lonac, one can come into his realm and immediately feel their way. Lonac is about emotion, detail, layering, and fluid motion. He combines photo realism with illustration. His main subjects are fish but he also includes birds, humans and some surreal characters in his art. He also has some sculptures in his repertoire whose medium connect to his sport of skateboarding. Decks have been broken down to create fish scales or carved with a jigsaw to create bone and feather shapes.
Lonac has also shared pages from his sketchbook with the world by way of the internet. This is an artist whose heart and soul is in the details. Line art so intricate and perfect. You feel the pen move over the page along with the feelings moving it. Those drawings tell stories from deep within.
One thing learned from interviews is the reason why a human eye is a prominent element in Lonac’s work. The artist believes that the eyes are the windows of the soul and that they hold every emotion a person is feeling in the moment. He makes them large so that the observer stops and takes notice and looks closer to connect with the emotion.
Although some of Lonac’s work could be classified as dark and is sometimes a hodge-podge of elements that this reviewer usually just finds confusing and frustrating, this body of art is very easily grasped. There is a great deal of angry and dark art that is critically great art but I go to art for peace, wisdom, joy, compassion…a break from reality as it were. This art touched me. At times sad. At times hopeful. Always stunningly beautiful. Aerosol creations that appear to be done with a brush. Meticulous. Beautiful.
Give Lonac a like on Facebook and stay tuned for updates on his blog: http://lonac.blogspot.com/
— Kathy Creighton | @Mama_Kath
