All of them deal with the cyclical nature of life and death, dreams and desire, the mysteries of existence, and the transformation of time and matter into spirit and illusion. Surrounded by the 40 magnificent paintings that comprise Syzszlo in his Labyrinth , the same haunting sensations swept through me again. Peruvian artist Fernando de Syzszlo uses mystical imagery, symbolic allusion, abstracted form, dramatic light, foreboding shadow, and mythological reference to express the same spiritual concerns that the Latin American literati explore with words. Life and death are an on-going continuum, secret doors lead from one to another, unknown passages are part of the journey.
Time is a dance with no beginning or end.
Born in 1925, the 75-year old Szyszlo is one of Latin America's most acclaimed artists. The son of a Polish scientist and a Peruvian mother, he was attracted to abstract art and Surrealism at a very early age. In 1949 he traveled to Europe, became part of the Paris international art scene, met Andre Breton, and became fast friends with Octavio Paz. After studying Venetian colorists and the techniques of chiaroscuro in Italy, the expatriat experimented with Cubism, Surrealism, Latin American regionalism, and Western formalism. But Szyszlo's heart was rooted in Peru.