Tibor Nagy, a native of Slovakia, has been creating artwork since childhood. There’s something unearthly, uncommon, and even unfair about a self-taught artist who is extremely talented. These rare individuals possess gifts that must have come straight from heaven. Sure, these gifts must be honed by practice, but individuals who are able to teach themselves to create excellent art are, quite simply, blessed. Painter Tibor Nagy is such an individual. We here at Segmation is thrilled to introduce him to you.
One look at his work and you’d think he had years upon years of professional training. Not so. Tibor has walked the artistic path alone, teaching himself through trial and error how to craft exquisite paintings that are, as it says on his personal website, a testament to his dogged determination to clarify, “to capture a vision informed by his life and his native land of Slovakia, by both the measurable and the abstract.”
We want to give you the opportunity to know Tibor and take a look at his artwork. Read on to discover a person who may well be your favorite new artist.
Segmation’s Exclusive Interview with Painter Tibor Nagy
Q) What is your personal artistic style? Can you describe it to us?
A) I always seem to have a problem with placing myself into a particular category as I have never considered myself belonging to any one particular style. My visual expression comes from my nature. Of course, I am to a degree influenced by the outside world of art and to be more specific, I am mostly influenced by impressionism, realism, and abstraction. The result is some kind of synthesis of these styles and my own vision.
Q) Your bio states, “At the beginning of Tibor’s artistic journey, realism combined with abstraction was the direction which prevailed in his style. Later in the eighties he started to incline more toward surrealism, combined techniques and experimentation still searching for his own unique way of expression.” What prompted this change in direction?
A) The formation of an artistic expression means to me, as an artist, a continuous process. It does not end with acquiring a certain set of skills or adopting a specific style. There is no end point in this development. As I change over the course of time, so does my visual expression, which allows me to find answers to my current questions. I think that is what is truly exciting about art. I never know what I will create tomorrow and how.
Q) When did you first realize you were an artist? (Not just that you had the ability to create art, but that “artist” was your core identity.)
A) I grew up in an artistic family. My parents were musicians and some of my other relatives also dedicated their time to creative activities, such as painting or drawing. This created an environment, where creative work in any form was a part of everyday life. I was no exception in this regard and picking up on that felt very natural. I think that is why I never actually realized that I became an artist; it was simply there the whole time, we could say.
Q) Tell us a bit about your education in art: how did you learn to paint? Do you feel you got more out of art classes or self-study?
A) As I have already partially mentioned, drawing has been a part of my life since early childhood. The very first things I managed to convey on a piece of paper were “feelings” and “moods” that we so often see in children’s drawings. It was only much later, when a need arose to portray a specific shape or a color tone, that I needed to immerse myself deeper into studying objects and colors. This study is a continuous, basically perpetual process. I am also entirely self-taught and never formally studied art.
Q) Every artist’s process of creating a piece of art is different. Can you tell us about your artistic process? (For example, how are you usually inspired, how long does it take you to complete a piece of art, do you work on only one piece at a time, etc.)
A) I do not usually plan ahead. The whole creative process is in my case dramatically influenced by my current mood, intuition, and what exactly inspires me at a given moment. I usually finish my works in one session (alla prima). This on the other hand requires efficiency and the ability to make the whole painting process as simple as possible. In fact, it could be said that I consider the key problematics of the painting process to be closely connected with the gradual simplification of the creative process as such. This way, there is more room for perception and involving one’s feelings/emotions in a work of art and thus achieving more authenticity. Sometimes, when I paint a painting of a larger format for example, it can take approximately two days for me to finish it.
Q) Who is your favorite artist? Why?
A) There are, of course, many artists who inspire me. To mention just a few, I would probably go with Nicolai Fechin, Antonio Mancini, Anders Zorn, Richard Schmid, Joaquin Sorolla, and John Singer Sargent (there are more of course). The works of these artists inspire me mainly by their meaningfulness, where besides the subject of the painting the emphasis is also put on capturing the personality and “authenticity” of the author.
Q) What is your favorite color?
A) I am afraid I cannot easily answer this question. You see, I do not actually have a specific favorite color. What always fascinates me, however, is a colorful composition where the dominance lies with a particular color tone. I am referring to a – let’s call it – “colorful mood,” where, for instance, the main tone consists of different shades of red and that basically defines the overall mood of a particular painting. This game of colors has always fascinated me and I love getting back to it over and over again.
Impressed with Tibor? So are we. Follow him on Facebook at @tibornagyfineart, and be sure to stop by his personal website.
Read more Segmation blog posts about art and color:
Interview with Frank Jaehne: Abstract Painter, Modern Artist, Dreamer
Segmation’s Interview with Artist Edgars Būmeisters
Artist Pamela McDaniel Demonstrates the Power of Confidence
Be an Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)
SegPlay® Mobile available for iPhone and iPad
Wow. Simply AMAZING. Thanks for sharing!!!