VOLUPTUOUS TOWNS – portraits of cities

Jan Astner – VOLUPTUOUS TOWNS

Every city is different. The portrait of a city is not only about urban planning and architecture. Cities are people. Each city has different people, different ways of life, different customs. We all know it: cities have their scents, their color palette, mysterious nooks and crannies, manicured lawns and mountains of rubbish on the sidewalks, neighborhoods of prosperity and poverty. We, their creators and residents, make them what they are, unique in our own, different, fascinating way. They create us, our beauty and ugliness. It is the inhabitants who create the portrait of their city.

The series „Voluptuous Towns” – portraits of cities – is the artist’s travel diary. Each painting refers to a different city visited by the painter. Each is a record of the feelings that accompanied the visit, discoveries and experiences. It is fascinating to discover this sphere that cannot be seen, which can be experienced individually by looking at people, or actually watching them. It is a colorful, diverse world, always hiding something from visitors. Each city has its taboos, its hidden secrets – because each city has its own intimate life.

But let’s look at cities a little differently. As Jan Astner proposes in his “Voluptuous towns” – let’s look at the portraits of cities. He’s watching them. Maybe as a traveler collecting impressions? Maybe as an adventurer? Maybe he wants to find the uniqueness of each city in them.

Citi art – portraits of cities

Each of the portraits of cities has a specific, corresponding color, from pastel, delicate to aggressive, imposing clashes of colors. Bright street nets, but also restrictive bars, walls, walls and partitions. Astner records what is going on under the surface, under the appearances, brings out what is hidden, reveals the taboo, very suggestively presenting his observations in colors and forms. It certainly gives us space for interpretation. Let us turn on the overrun of fantasy and let our senses enjoy passion, desire, but also delightful views, because each portrait of the city is different. Just like us.

Jan Astner’s city portraits are painted using the imprint method, without the use of a brush. Stamped with all kinds of tools and planes. Referring to cubism, macro pointillism – very rich and multi-layered. The structure of an image can be studied many times, and each time we discover something new. This richness results from the variety of the painting technique used and emphasizes the sensuality of the paintings.