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OPENING THE DOORS TO OUR DREAMS
An interview with Lukás Kándl

conducted by John Clay

Surrealist artist Lukás Kándl is engaged in painting a series of fantastical images of birds, titled Homage to Audubon and inspired by the realistic engravings of 18th century French-American naturalist, John James Audubon. Paintings from the series have been exhibited in New York, Paris, and elsewhere.

This interview was conducted in French by email. English translation by John Clay.

CLAY: Can you tell us about the origin of your interest in the birds of John James Audubon?

KÁNDL: Even before encountering the work of J. J. Audubon, I had painted several canvases of birds and of fantastical animals. I became acquainted with J.J. Audubon's ouevre in a journal article which included magnificent reproductions. Soon I found several books about his work. I also had the pleasure of visiting his historic home in Key West during a trip to Florida, USA, on the occasion of an exhibition. And as I have the same approach as Audubon, that is to say that I realize my subjects in the grandeur of their true-life size, and in the same minute detail, I find our rendezvous to be perfectly logical.

CLAY: What are your models? Audubon's renderings of birds? photos of his renderings? photos of real birds?

KÁNDL: As models, above all I have looked at books with photos of birds, to have several models of the same bird. This was in order not to be solely derivative of Audubon who, because of the technical constraints of his epoque, was obliged, for example, to depict his rose flamingo with the neck bent. Given that I am painting on canvas, I can paint it standing upright, in all its splendour, on a surface nearly two meters tall.

I also recently had the great pleasure of being invited by Yvon Chatelin to the Institute of France to view, for myself for the first time, a complete edition, of excellent quality, of the engravings of Audubon's works. John James Audubon first made drawings of his birds, but the final product was engravings, colored by hand. The printers of his time couldn't reproduce formats larger than about 120 x 80 cm, restricted by the size of the press and the printing plates. On the other hand, through printing he obtained a quanitity of reproductions whereas I make just one original. Obviously, if Audubon had been making paintings, as I am, he could have made them any size he wished.

CLAY: Perhaps even the fantastical elements of your paintings can communicate a new experience of the real bird and of our encounter with the bird in nature?

KÁNDL: I like to add, to the representation of the real, elements that are new, fantastical, surreal, unexpected, that give the impression that such a species exists, even if, for now, it is only I who have encountered it and who present it to my invited guests.

CLAY: What is your working method for the series Homage to Audubon? Do you begin with a sketch?

KÁNDL: For each canvas I prepare a small sketch no larger than a postcard, in black pencil, to get an idea of the composition. Then I choose a canvas corresponding to the size of the real bird in nature and I commence directly with painting in oil. I don't make preparatory drawings on the canvas.

CLAY: Will you continue painting more birds?

KÁNDL: Following my two exhibitions of "Hommage à Audubon" in Paris in May 2002, I envision a sojourn in the USA. I am pursuing funding for a six month stay in New York in 2003 in order to continue my work on Audubon. My objective is threefold: Complete and fulfill my series of paintings in homage to John James Audubon, by realizing additional studies of his designs in his adopted country, the United States, particularly in the museums of New York. Organize a large exhibition in New York City, consisting of the paintings now completed (40 canvases) plus new works completed in New York, hopefully approaching a grand total of one hundred works. These works will respect the rule I have given myself, that is to say, to realize the birds always in their natural grandeur, which was also the preoccupation of Audubon. And prepare a book that will gather all my works on this theme.

Naturally, for this project I am searching for sponsors, for assistance in finding an exhibition space, and for writers since I would hope that my book would be written, in large part, by American authors.

CLAY: You have said that your paintings are like ballads. Has music played an important role in your life?

KÁNDL: Certainly I enjoy music: classical as well as jazz. But when I speak of ballads, I am really thinking of the text, its contents, the message it delivers. And in fact, I want my canvases to encourage spectators to pose questions, suggest responses, and in all events, provoke reflection.

CLAY: What do you like to read? in poetry? in prose?

KÁNDL: I very much like authors such as Kafka, Lautréamont, Dostoïevski, Edgar Allen Poe, Ray Bradbury, and in poetry Baudelaire, Apollinaire, Rimbaud. And I also like biblical texts. For example, I am preparing some canvases on the theme "Apocolypse according to Saint John" for a collective exhibition that will take place in 2003.

CLAY: Your style sometimes has been called "magic realism". On your own website, www.kandl.net, you call it "magic surrealism". For you, what is the difference between the two?

KÁNDL: Rightly it is the surpassing of the beautiful, of magic realism, by the surreal, the visionary, the fantastic, the literary, that brings me to what I call magic surrealism. It is the offering of visions that, in their details, are completely probable, but that one will never encounter except in opening the doors to our dreams, magnificent and strange.

CLAY: What is the significance of surrealist art in today's world?

KÁNDL: In effect, the "official" art which is now in vogue - installations, scatalogical art, happenings - are beginning to lose their audiences. And the art called visionary, fantastical, surreal because of its content, technically along with what is called "fine arts", is more and more appreciated. In France some years ago, Malraux, then Minister of Culture, said that the 21st century would be a spiritual century or would not be. I hope that through my work, along with that of my fellow artists working along the same lines, we are actively participating in realizing just such a dream.

© 2002 Lukas Kándl and John Clay

HOMMAGE À AUDUBON