A discovery: Sergio Kokis

A few weeks ago I’ve rediscovered Sergio Kokis. I “re-discoverd” him since I’ve seen and even browsed one of his books, La danse macabre du Quebec (The morbid dance of Quebec?) but, for some reason , I did not clicked at the time…

But, “browsing” through my old papers, I’ve fall upon a cut from L’Actualite (a magazine from Montreal, I think) with an interview featuring Sergio Kokis. And, this time, it clicked! His opinion on today’s art market, on the level of deception and falsity and stupidness and snobishness in today’s art seemed to be simply mine. He formulated the same thoughts, almost, that, for years, had populated my thoughts. The tirany of art “experts” and museums curators, the usually mean spirited and mercantile approach of art merchants, their money-grubbing and vulgar approach of art (under snobish and distinguished appearances, which are valid for the most art “collectors” too…Exceptions confirming the law…)

The imense stupidity, superficiality and arrogance of some artists a la mode, usually “abstract” ones (take Borduas and his followers who wrote manifestos more than he painted something valuable and who was so mean with “figurative” collegues like Pellan and others, if I heard right…). The tirany of “instalations” and so many other “concepts” and “conceptualisms” – a good shield for so many phonies, who try to mask their lack of talent and skills and originality using big words and “concepts” to cover what they were unable to do with images… The injustified spite for those who painted insteed of “conceptualizing” and “verbalising” their “creations…those who silently (or, in the case of Kokis, no so silently) work at their art, no matter if figurative, non-figurative or both. Simply because they needed to DO it… Don’t even start me!…

Anyway, I’ve borowed a few novels by Kokis (who was initially only a painter – mostly a human figure painter, in a raw, crude manner, a bit like Kokoshka and the German Expressionist – the reproductions are his; and I did not ask for permission to reproduce them… I “cite” him and hope he wouldn’t mind…)  Because is was about a painter who become a forger, I’ve started with The Art of Deception, and loved it! Not only because of the subject matter, mind you ! (even if novels about painters who really know what they are talking about are quite rare… Zola‘s work, L’Oeuvre (The Masterpiece?) seemed kind of phony to me…) But Kokis’s is a true novel, well written, truthfull and no doubt sincere, vigourous and non-conformist. Since then I’m reading  and reading Sergio Kokis and even managed to buy 3 of his (usually I don’t buy books exept for those from charities – in the range of 0,25 to 1-2 $; you can find sometimes amazing stuff! ) and I just started!

He slowly becomes a role model for me – since I had this thought of writing a novel myself (I even began to write a note here, a note there…) And he, just like my beloved Raymond Chandler, published his first book when he was around his fifties… So, there is still some hope….

And did I tell you he is of Bresilian origin (from a Bresilian mother and a lituanian father!) and that he raffled 4 literary prizes (to the spite of “pure laine” quebecois writers…) with his first novel? That he painted a huge number of (well, somber and raw) paintings with a creative power and energy that not every artist has? That he offered his body of paintings called La danse macabre du Quebec to the Museums and government of Quebec – for free! – and was refused? ! (I am not totally surprised since he didn’t make any compromise and politicians, art merchants and generally, almost everyone, weren’t at all spared in his paintings)?

Ok, his painting is somewhat too raw, too strong for me, personally. But I always could tell – still can! – when an artist is truthfull to himself, sincere and original. And HE IS! And that is a lot more that I can say about most of the painters I see nowdays…

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The images that illustrate this post are Sergio Kokis’s and I hope he wouldn’t mind…