Painting Inspiration from Rene Magritte

We live in surreal times, which I believe the artist Rene Magritte would appreciate. As a famous surrealist artist, Magritte was known for his strange depictions of life-like paintings depicting objects in weird places and situations. With Toronto schools and daycares open, I've been furiously painting alone in my Toronto art studio. Probably not the only artist frantically trying to get in as much art creation and painting time as possible, in case there's another lockdown in Toronto, Canada. As at inspiration, I've been relooking at the art of favourite master artists like Magritte and thinking about how surreal life is during a worldwide pandemic. As a former lawyer and current artist, my most productive and fruitful time is spent working, researching, painting, thinking and creating alone in my own space. 

Artist Rene Magritte as Inspiration in these Surreal Times

The strange, surreal artwork of Rene Magritte is appropriate during the current COVID pandemic. So many weird things have been happening this year that no one could have anticipated. Magritte's paintings often combine ordinary subjects or objects in strange, confusing scenes. His quote about art evoking mystery, "without which the world would not exist" is relevant as artists experiment with ways to express life in a pandemic.  

René François Ghislain Magritte was a Belgian Artist who lived from 1898 to 1967. Though he passed away over 50 years ago, his paintings and influence on culture have never seemed more true to life. Since lockdown in March, I can't even count the times I've done a double take over weird and mysterious news, images and scenes from daily life in Toronto. Will these strange moments be the "new normal" or will daily life go back to normal when there's a COVID vaccine in Canada? 

With more time spent alone and limited interactions with people not in my immediate family, I've found myself wanting to find new ways to express myself through art. Paint and photography have once again become my preferred methods of experimentation and communication so I love the quote from Rene Magritte about using art to evoke essential mystery. This particular quote from Artist Rene Magritte has sparked my imagination since the COVID-19 closures and restrictions in Toronto,

"Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist."

- Rene Magritte

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On thinking about the mysteriousness of art...