Popular Brazil-born artist Henderson Cisz is capturing our great cities for all their fascination and glory, and pleasing the masses.
A career as an artist was not initially apparent to Henderson Cisz, despite a glaring affinity for fine art. However, a few years in banking firmly set his mind to pursue art professionally, when his passion for it could longer be sated by mere hobby. Thus, he moved to London in 1986, and studied painting to begin his greatest journey — his career as an artist.
Henderson Cisz is a well travelled man, something that affects the style of his work. The subjects of his paintings well express the lifestyle of a nomadic man adept to city life. His seascapes counter the high-speed city pace, promising to slow time in its tracks. Yet Henderson Cisz’s cityscapes are not painted with disdain; their vibrant, lively brush strokes and contrasting colours capture all of the life and excitement of the city, whilst airbrushing over the grey patches of dreary day-to-day tedium.
Henderson Cisz’s seascapes and tropical beaches connote the simple joy of the peaceful, turquoise water and clear skies, replacing any trace of anxiety with a wash of calm. In contrast, Cisz’s cityscapes are loud, fast-paced and fun, highlighting the exciting, spontaneous pulse of the city. It could easily be assumed that the contrasting styles of landscapes — the sea and the city — have been created by two different artists. What unites them is their presentation — always optimistic, almost nostalgic in essence, making you wish it were possible to step into paintings, just so you could experience the exciting rush of the city, and then forget the world on an alien beach. It is little wonder that Henderson Cisz’s paintings and limited edition prints sell like hot cakes — they offer a slice of that peace, or of that excitement. When I look at the deserted beach I feel calm; when I look at his cityscapes I crave the excitement and adventure that great cities effortlessly advertise.
Cities represent such extreme juxtaposition — a place of fun and danger, a land of opportunity, but also poverty — cities seem to hold in their hands a mixture of people at distinct opposite ends of the social scale, who all gravitate towards the it like moths to a lantern. Its seductive beauty; promise of jobs and money, of culture and of adventure, all mask the dredges of society beneath — the opportunist thieves, the inhabitants trapped by poverty; the overworked, de-spirited hearts scattered throughout the ranks.
Leading a lifestyle of the wanderer has paid off — working from the hundreds of photographs he has taken throughout his travels, Henderson Cisz’s style appeases every taste: Painted in oils, acrylics and watercolours, Henderson Cisz creates the picturesque quintessential English streets, lined with old street lamps and hornbeam trees, and back-dropped with black taxis, red buses and men in crisp suits. Then there are the French provincial markets, woven with silver birches and stalls with awnings. And for those who share a kindred spirit with the city that never sleeps, you can find your partner painting in the depictions of the vibrant lights, elegant women, yellow cabs and skyscrapers of New York.
In fact, every roaring city seems to have its sleepy counterpart — for every nocturnal city there, by her side, is her quaint, cobbled sister. The Eiffel Tower of Paris can be admired in one painting behind the lavishly hub-capped, winged cars of the 20’s, and set against the flattering light of early-morning, pastel skies, nodding to the romantic scenes of our world’s greatest cities. These amorous cityscapes speak for the matured city — both charming and familiar. In contrast, the sultry, dim lights of the nighttime city, painted in primary reds and blues, recreate the vibrant city that is full of mystery and the unknown.
Henderson Cisz’s confident use of colour creates very different meanings in all of his paintings; each one harbours a different mood. The seascapes are washed with blue — a colour that is associated with calm and is said to incite creativity; red quickens the heartbeat and improves concentration, and Cisz generously ladles the rouge over his cityscapes.
Henderson Cisz’s love for the city is contagious, spread through his paintings and limited edition prints; he catches the diverse nature and acute drama of metropolitan life, and then injects a note of calm through his seascapes.
#Cisz #City
