Thornhill painter reigns over Spain’s art scene1/14/2009 4:47:00 AM
EXCERPT from: The Liberal PEOPLE Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009
(Used by Permission)
BY ADAM MC LEAN
Staff Writer
In the various mediums of art, whether it be the rhythm of music, connectivity of painting and sculpting or the physical expression of dance; emotions are bared by the
artist in an effort to evoke a response; to catch the eye, ear or spirit of the audience. Sometimes it can be a feeling of joy, anger, distress, anxiousness, vulnerability, hilarity or consciousness.And through art, this palate of sensations can be massaged by a juggernaut of flashing sight and sound, or similarly, by only a few simple strokes of shades against a blank background.
The work of Thornhill native and painter ZARUM achieves all of the above with what appears to be great ease a sly, smirking wit of sensual playfulness you can’t help but feel through the cornucopia of dancing colour, faces, eyes, lips and curves which leap from the canvas. His work can gently take you by the hand and pull you closer, tickle you in a playful gesture or subsequently make you take a step back in a slightly uncomfortable and tense moment, as if the lines and patches of paint have exposed
an unsettling ripple in your moral fibre.
All in all, it is art, and art is emotion. It is a world in which ZARUM, 49, was surrounded during his childhood growing up in Thorhill. Having a father and mother who both sang, a flamenco guitarist for an uncle, and cousins who played piano and guitar professionally, a love of music came first for ZARUM, who continues to write music to complement his painting. As an adult, the Thornhill native worked as a real estate syndicator and during this time discovered his love for painting. Inspired by the works of artists such as Picasso,Dahli and Kahlo, ZARUM began to dabble in his own creations of free-flowing abstracts and images on canvas.
But it was years later after an artistic hiatus, ZARUM reaquainted himself with the paintbrush and in doing so, discovered renewed passion to create an artistic world through his own eyes. He had stepped away from his early influences for so many years that when he painted, what emerged was truly “his”. Via stops in Miami and Amsterdam, ZARUM is now living and painting in Spain - the homeland of his mother
- where his artistic career is flowing unbridled, similar to the work he creates. It is in this work he finds solitude, peace, humour and through every stroke displays an invitation for people to step into his world and elicit some of their deeper emotions.