Interview with Josip Rubes
Josip Rubes was born in Jastrebarsko, Croatia in 1942 and is graduate painter and a retired doctor. He graduated from Medical Faculty of Zagreb in 1970. Rubes also studied Painting at the Arthous College of Visual Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with his diploma thesis on Jackson Pollock Painting. Josip Rubes has been drawing and painting since his early youth. Having arrived in Croatian Zagorje region in 1972, he found inspiration for paintings in beauty of the landscape. He mainly paints with dry pastel and oil on canvas. Since 2008 he has been painting in an abstract style inspired by Pollock. Rubes has had 80 solo shows and participated in around 300 joint exhibitions in Croatia and abroad. 2019 present in Art Books Current Masters.
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us how you started in the arts? and your first experience in art making?
I was born in 1942. I spent my childhood in an idyllic village near Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Already at the time of my childhood, I showed creativity and especially liked to draw idyllic farmhouses and animals. After eight years of schooling, I finished high school and then, at the request of my parents, studied medicine at the School of Medicine in Zagreb and then specialized in internal medicine. This humane call has made me a humane person and I have dedicated my entire working life to treat sick people. In 1972. I came to live and work in Croatian Zagorje, Krapinske Toplice which is a well-known thermal spa. This regionin Croatia is known for its natural beauties, which inspired me. In mostly painted landscapes in pastel and oil canvas. After retiring in 2007. I enrolled in painting studies in Ljubljana an graduated in 2012. with a thesis on "Jackson Pollock Painting". Inspired by the action painting of Pollock, I have started painting with this technique and exhibiting at exhibitions. By creating my action compositions over a number of years small geometric spaced parts were increasingly emerging, which gradually formed geometric images. In recent years, I have been increasingly painting geometric compositions that are color-balanced, constructed by connecting larger or smaller triangular and square shapes with gradual tone transitions.
How would you describe yourself and your artwork?
My main characteristic is "children's curiosity" for everything that happens around me and for events in the world, especially the ones in the artistic world. I love nature, that always fascinates me with its diversity of flora and fauna and the diversity of landscapes. I live in a part of the world (Croatia) that has four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter) that give me an insight into a wonderful range of different colors. My favorite season is spring when nature wakes up from a winter dream. There are plenty of colorful flowers and green woods everywhere. The fall is also beautiful when forests show a spectrum of diverse colors. These natural phenomena have been an inspiration to me since childhood. I love nature and all wildlife, but I am concerned and saddened by the harmful effects of humans that are gradually destroying our planet, which leads to climate change in a form of a planet-warming and ecological disasters which influence the extinction of many animal an plant species. Our planet becomes unsuitable even for humans. After my retirement in 2007, I have been intensively pursuing my painting, trying to make viewers' lives more beautiful, make them happier and more optimistic.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Observing nature in all its beauty and color diversity in each one of its seasons leaves big impression on me and inspires me to make landscape and abstract paintings, while observing modern architecture and design in which predominate geometric lines inspires me to create geometric abstraction that I pursue for a past few years.
What emotions do you hope the viewers experience when looking at your art?
Human race is daily confronted with the problems of ruination and destruction of the environment in which we live which concerns us because this beautiful planet of ours becomes increasingly inaccessible for living. I want my images to evoke positive emotions, optimism, the joy of living and enjoying the various color combinations by an image created in the eyes of a viewer and his (her) consciousness. I strive to provide the viewer with a pleasant visual experience and to get a desire to own this image to make their homes more beautiful.
When do you know that an artwork is finished ?
It is difficult to answer this question and to say when the painting is completed. It often happens to met that after a while on the painting I had finished, I find some detail that is not good enough and then I fix it to leave a better artistic impression. Every detail of the painting, every inch of the canvas should be almost perfect. The colors in my geometric abstraction need to be well laid out to be able to give good contrast and visual recognition. In action painting, which I also practice, there is greater freedom to express myself.
What has been the most exciting moment in your art career so far?
It's hard for me to say which one was the most exciting. However, I think that was when after 40 years of painting I received my degree in painting studies in 2012. and thus fulfilled a childhood dream after being for so long a physician. Certainly, the opening ceremonies of my solo exhibitions give me pleasure when they are well received with praise from connoisseurs of fine arts and curators.
How long does it take to produce one work?
My style of painting, and especially geometric abstraction, requires the precision of the performance of certain geometric bodies and lines, the imagination in composing the composition, the exceptional concentration in combining colors. Depending on the size of the canvas and the number of its geometric elements and details, depends also the time spent on working on the painting. It is difficult for me to specify the time period for painting an single image since I usually paint more than one at a time. I probably spend around 24 hours working on a single geometric painting.
What exciting projects are you working on right now?
Depending on my financial capacities, I could participate in a series of painting fairs organized by World Wide Art, Artevita and Art UpClose and some others, as well as solo exhibitions where I would present the latest abstract works that I refine daily by new ideas concerning my technique and expression. I believe that in the coming years I will be able to paint many new abstract paintings that will meet the artistic criteria.
Do you have any upcoming events or exhibitions we should know about?
Sob far, I have participated in several group exhibitions abroad (New York, Monaco Yacht Show). In December of 2019. I had a solo exhibition in Paris, La Galeru Fontenay and participated in the International Contemporary Art show in Miami. Currently, I am not exhibiting my paintings, although I have received several offers for solo exhibitions (New York, Vienna) as well as participation in painting fairs (Barcelona, New York) which I did not accept due to my lack of financial resources.
Email: josip.rubes@kr.t-com.hr
Website: https://apstraktno-slikarstvo-josiprubes.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josip.rubes
Short Bio for the Interview
Josip Rubes was born in Jastrebarsko, Croatia in 1942 and is graduate painter and a retired doctor. He graduated from Medical Faculty of Zagreb in 1970. Rubes also studied Painting at the Arthous College of Visual Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with his diploma thesis on Jackson Pollock Painting. Josip Rubes has been drawing and painting since his early youth. Having arrived in Croatian Zagorje region in 1972, he found inspiration for paintings in beauty of the landscape. He mainly paints with dry pastel and oil on canvas. Since 2008 he has been painting in an abstract style inspired by Pollock. Rubes has had 80 solo shows and participated in around 300 joint exhibitions in Croatia and abroad. 2019 present in Art Books Current Masters.
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us how you started in the arts? and your first experience in art making?
I was born in 1942. I spent my childhood in an idyllic village near Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Already at the time of my childhood, I showed creativity and especially liked to draw idyllic farmhouses and animals. After eight years of schooling, I finished high school and then, at the request of my parents, studied medicine at the School of Medicine in Zagreb and then specialized in internal medicine. This humane call has made me a humane person and I have dedicated my entire working life to treat sick people. In 1972. I came to live and work in Croatian Zagorje, Krapinske Toplice which is a well-known thermal spa. This regionin Croatia is known for its natural beauties, which inspired me. In mostly painted landscapes in pastel and oil canvas. After retiring in 2007. I enrolled in painting studies in Ljubljana an graduated in 2012. with a thesis on "Jackson Pollock Painting". Inspired by the action painting of Pollock, I have started painting with this technique and exhibiting at exhibitions. By creating my action compositions over a number of years small geometric spaced parts were increasingly emerging, which gradually formed geometric images. In recent years, I have been increasingly painting geometric compositions that are color-balanced, constructed by connecting larger or smaller triangular and square shapes with gradual tone transitions.
How would you describe yourself and your artwork?
My main characteristic is "children's curiosity" for everything that happens around me and for events in the world, especially the ones in the artistic world. I love nature, that always fascinates me with its diversity of flora and fauna and the diversity of landscapes. I live in a part of the world (Croatia) that has four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter) that give me an insight into a wonderful range of different colors. My favorite season is spring when nature wakes up from a winter dream. There are plenty of colorful flowers and green woods everywhere. The fall is also beautiful when forests show a spectrum of diverse colors. These natural phenomena have been an inspiration to me since childhood. I love nature and all wildlife, but I am concerned and saddened by the harmful effects of humans that are gradually destroying our planet, which leads to climate change in a form of a planet-warming and ecological disasters which influence the extinction of many animal an plant species. Our planet becomes unsuitable even for humans. After my retirement in 2007, I have been intensively pursuing my painting, trying to make viewers' lives more beautiful, make them happier and more optimistic.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Observing nature in all its beauty and color diversity in each one of its seasons leaves big impression on me and inspires me to make landscape and abstract paintings, while observing modern architecture and design in which predominate geometric lines inspires me to create geometric abstraction that I pursue for a past few years.
What emotions do you hope the viewers experience when looking at your art?
Human race is daily confronted with the problems of ruination and destruction of the environment in which we live which concerns us because this beautiful planet of ours becomes increasingly inaccessible for living. I want my images to evoke positive emotions, optimism, the joy of living and enjoying the various color combinations by an image created in the eyes of a viewer and his (her) consciousness. I strive to provide the viewer with a pleasant visual experience and to get a desire to own this image to make their homes more beautiful.
When do you know that an artwork is finished ?
It is difficult to answer this question and to say when the painting is completed. It often happens to met that after a while on the painting I had finished, I find some detail that is not good enough and then I fix it to leave a better artistic impression. Every detail of the painting, every inch of the canvas should be almost perfect. The colors in my geometric abstraction need to be well laid out to be able to give good contrast and visual recognition. In action painting, which I also practice, there is greater freedom to express myself.
What has been the most exciting moment in your art career so far?
It's hard for me to say which one was the most exciting. However, I think that was when after 40 years of painting I received my degree in painting studies in 2012. and thus fulfilled a childhood dream after being for so long a physician. Certainly, the opening ceremonies of my solo exhibitions give me pleasure when they are well received with praise from connoisseurs of fine arts and curators.
How long does it take to produce one work?
My style of painting, and especially geometric abstraction, requires the precision of the performance of certain geometric bodies and lines, the imagination in composing the composition, the exceptional concentration in combining colors. Depending on the size of the canvas and the number of its geometric elements and details, depends also the time spent on working on the painting. It is difficult for me to specify the time period for painting an single image since I usually paint more than one at a time. I probably spend around 24 hours working on a single geometric painting.
What exciting projects are you working on right now?
Depending on my financial capacities, I could participate in a series of painting fairs organized by World Wide Art, Artevita and Art UpClose and some others, as well as solo exhibitions where I would present the latest abstract works that I refine daily by new ideas concerning my technique and expression. I believe that in the coming years I will be able to paint many new abstract paintings that will meet the artistic criteria.
Do you have any upcoming events or exhibitions we should know about?
Sob far, I have participated in several group exhibitions abroad (New York, Monaco Yacht Show). In December of 2019. I had a solo exhibition in Paris, La Galeru Fontenay and participated in the International Contemporary Art show in Miami. Currently, I am not exhibiting my paintings, although I have received several offers for solo exhibitions (New York, Vienna) as well as participation in painting fairs (Barcelona, New York) which I did not accept due to my lack of financial resources.
Name
Josip Rubes
Website
https://apstraktno-slikarstvo-josiprubes.com
