Surrealism in the current paintings of Max Zaxster represents a distinct individuality and at the same time his unusual view of the works of art of artists of different spaces and times. The puzzles or leaflets of various past works by many artists act as an enigmatic challenge to the viewer, while at the same time their new and completely autonomous interpretation. The rebus, which suggests the urgency of reflection and the challenge to the image observer, is intertwined with the impression of the existence of a deeper message somewhere in the background. Observation leads to reflection on several mathematical puzzles, rebuses, crossword puzzles, and tabloid news. The seemingly cinematic narrative, and the related interpretations of the works of many authors, quite quickly manage to seduce the observer to conflict within their own opinion. The multi-layered nature of the painting presents a challenge and new expectations, perhaps also about what is still around or perhaps behind. What is where at all. The painting is presented to the viewer as an externally crowded gallery, perhaps even an antique shop, the usual selling price, even without a clear path, relations to the artistic circumstances of all time in without an eminent curator who would obviously authoritatively determine the content of viewing. Suddenly, only painting in its most profane interpretation becomes before our eyes, and it deeply symbolizes the present world - the world of a headless market, endless overloaded shelves with necessary and unnecessary, more for the eyes than for people. Every piece of the observed urban environment has experienced the same, the advertising bubble is more and more bigger, everything has been too much for a long time, and at the same time there is far too little endless and uncertain travel in search of inner satisfaction.Under the endless pressures of the media, a lot of information, even false information, we become more stubborn and insensitive to that tiny latent feeling that allows us to sublimely experience the visual impulse, the mixture of lights and shapes. The smell of beauty. Running along Zaxster's puzzle, searching for possible answers of his own, may be reminiscent of the modern dramaturgy of shopping. Reliable on browsing the web and social networks. In fact, in his fragments of paintings, our eye sometimes misses only the indication of discounts and selling prices of fragments of these paintings of his. Aware of the painting chaos, it portrays, it tackles various interventions that represent a search for the whole and at the same time a departure from the interpreted paintings, sometimes a commentary, sometimes just a specific relation or even a kind of author's aversion. He even goes so far as to look from behind and roughly reach into the canvas with a knife. A narrative rebus, a traveling theater, a shopping center, a storeroom art, an antique shop, or just a daily experience of the World Wide Web, are lined up in pieces like recordings of a recent dream. It is a distinct individuality that deeply denies the known existing practices, an unusual, perhaps even a fairy-tale experience of the painting world and the world in general. Painting suddenly adapts completely spontaneously, merges into the images of sales catalogs of shopping centers and even reminds of design practices that sting the eyes of the audience daily. Whether it’s Zaxster’s own land called Oz or just her current reflex in the ordinary world - it’s probably both.

As so many times before, we always seem to face the fundamental question, what are the criteria that determine whether a certain painting is of artistic value or not and what exactly defines art in its core. In the painting titled Association there is a collage of works from different painters as follows: Lojze Logar - David's Gardens, Franc Kokalj – Holy mountain and Matej Metlišek – Newspaper. The artists all share a similar perception of life which reflects itself in the similarity of style and expression of their art. They use strong colours, but simple shapes, and most importantly, they paint out of love for art and creativity. In paintings they use different techniques on oil, stained glass and acrylic. This painting was created as a collection of their works and gives rise to the association about faith, love and mortality. Like many who are in search of the causes of our existence and exploring our true nature, we can lean on the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry from The Little Prince, “the essence is invisible to the eyes”. The painting presented definitely points out the significance of our life quest, where only few can recognize its true essence. It is a very expressive and colourful painting, filled with purity, positivity and simplicity. The background of the painting is similar to the optical effect or phenomena displayed by the mineraloid gemstone Opal, where two basic colours, blue and red, were purposely chosen. To this two basic colours, a flowing mixture of both is added as a neutral colour. This ultimately strikes a balance between the left and right part of the painting. And last but not least, the details in this painting are not as important as the recognition of the technique and style of the Max's painting and all the hidden that this painting is “associating“ with.

The painting Solution is the artistic depiction of Andy Warhol’s works, who was a famous American artist, film director, illustrator and a writer. It is evident he had an artistic gift in several fields, which is without a doubt seen in all his work. He was recognized all over the world and is also known as an art pioneer and a founder of the visual art movement known as pop art. His best and most common works are seriographies: Shoes, Camouflage and Marilyn Monroe. In his works, he expressed the values of a capitalist society, such as fame, splendour and success, which all still exist in today’s society. He was also known as a good speaker. One of his most interesting sayings are: “an artist is someone who produces things that people don't really need at all“ ; “if you don't want to be real, you don't have to do the right thing“; “if everything in the world is done with machines, then I will think as a machine.“ With these words he showed how far art can go in relation to people's desires and longings for certain artistic creations that deviate from ideals. Warhol was certainly a special soul, which is also proved by the fact that he had 25 cats and he named them all Sam. Many years after his death his work is still relevant and as Eric Shiner, a director of his museum, said: “He's still in the game, a commercial art genius would be very happy about that.“ The biggest challenge for our society is for each of us to accept our own taste, to express our true desires and find a way to stand out as a sign of protest against social boredom. In this creation, Max Zaxster flirts with Warhol's modern philosophy, where he tries to capture a pattern that Warhol used in his paintings. Of course, Warhol’s style is unique and one of a kind, which reflects in symbols he used and their deeper meaning. Warhol's solution for artistic expression lies in the “multiplication“ of material symbols and people of the modern age. A unique and unrepeatable creativity, inadvertently forcing us to think about the meaning of art and of artists who were creating before him, and especially after him.

We sometimes wonder what makes a certain painting a work of art. What is this factor that distinguishes average art from a masterpiece? It may be pleasing to the eye or you can sense some strong emotions radiating. Many questions rise up that cannot leave you indifferent. Max's painting titled Evolution consists of works from following painters: Pieta Mondrian, Gustav Klimt, Jean-Claude Christosn and Vasily Kandinsky. In studying different patterns, we realize that there are infinite combinations. When we look at a picture for the first time, a pattern is quickly revealed to us according to the characteristic of each author’s style. The presented painters knew how to achieve balance, in terms of both, design and colour, which they were able to portray very masterfully. Max’s goal in depicting Evolution was to capture the basic traits of the painters mentioned above that led them to their development and recognizability of style. The motif focuses on an individual’s perception of an art, however, it is the philosophy of life, which is expressed through the mind of an artist, that is important. Evolution depicts selected motifs sharply and robustly, while acrylic involves fine, soft details. The colour palette consists of three basic colours: red, blue and yellow. Purple provides colour balance with its spectral power. The most dominant is pure red, while other colours are gradient. The red colour has a wavelength of 630-760 nanometers, which makes it the most visible. It emits power and is charged with energy. It also corresponds to expansive emotions. Blue is a colour of peace and harmony, a colour of high values and trust. You could say it’s an emotional “sedative”. Its aura gives meaning to personal relationships. It symbolizes water - the sea, in the Orient and India it symbolizes faith in gods. Its wavelength is 450-495 nanometers. The yellow colour has a wavelength of 570-590 nanometers. It also appears as a symbol of the sun - light, emotions and care for others. Yellow attracts attention. This is mainly why it appears at the beginning of the image. It increases communication, inspires us with hope, optimism, happiness and gives us a touch of humour. The colour of the third chakra is yellow and so is the flag, which means quarantine. In Feng Shui, yellow turns to gold. The golden colour represents strength. With this painting, the author wants to draw attention to the art world of his personal choice and sympathy. The depicted motifs of painters are known all over the world, therefore the viewer will at once recognize their unforgettable style.

What is art? Who can claim that a particular painting is an exceptional work of art? What is that which gives art greatness? The answer lies in the characteristics of a painting, in its colours, symbolism and the energy of an artist. There are also other very important factors, like the environment in which a drawing is created and the way paint is applied to the surface with a paint brush. The painting titled Interpretation is a collection of several different painters and their work: Metka Kraševec, Jože Tisnikar, Leon Zakrajšek, Silvester Plotajs Sicoe, Zvesta Appolonia, Jože Ciuha, France Slana and an interpretation by Max Zaxster. Individual characters, themes, styles and other characteristics of a certain painting mark and define Max’s view of their work and inner components. It is extremely difficult to perfect or define a certain style, without copying the image itself, choosing the appropriate colour and feel or realize what the artist was thinking at that particular moment. Historically exceptional works were created as a result of everyday problems and difficult times in which artists seem to find deep inspiration. Why this particular selection of images? Mainly because Max saw certain similarities that he connected, the harmony of strong colours and significant symbols which artists interpret their relationship to the world with. His interpretation of the painting, in which he combined the works of all the mentioned painters, reflects his vision of the world, as he believes colours express much more than words. This painting sets out questions about the circle of life and death and how the sun always shines behind dark clouds. A display of dark and light motifs and a crow as a symbol of something new show this everlasting contrast. The line runs in the form of infinity, from the beginning of abstraction through realistic scenes. It ends in a golden triangle, which represents an artistic abstraction. The purple flag appears in the picture for a reason. Mainly because purple is perceived as a very intense colour with deep meaning. It is a colour with its own light spectrum between 380 and 450 nanometers. It is perceived as a very pleasant colour, which has the shortest wavelength among all the colours of the spectrum that the human eye can still detect. It symbolizes pride, royalty, luxury and unconventionality. The purple aura means that the individual devotes himself to visionary matters. It ranks sixth in terms of world’s most popular colours.

The painting titled Parody depicts two excellent works of painters from the USA: Kevin Hill and Justin with the same surname. They use strong colours as they use all the given possibilities of a painting palette. An average viewer probably does not recognize all the mystique hidden in the painting, but sees only two excellent depictions of nature and mountains. The picture is much more than that. A viewer has to delve into it and feel the depths into which it invites us. It is important to ignore everyday worries and let the soul enjoy the sight of these beautiful colours and playfulness of nature. There are times in life when everything goes smoothly. And there are times when something unexpected happens. A “knife” appears that cuts us in the “middle,” and hurts us to the very soul. The consequences of this cut can make us or break us. It can turn us into a good or a bad person, but just like the picture shows, we need to get away from the “knife”. Otherwise it can “cut off“ our deeper part that stays separated from us forever. The paintings of the above authors symbolize this separation. Will we be able to stay in a colourful world throughout our lives and remain on the path to paradise? Or will the path take us to a dark and troubled world? Red colour expresses this dark world which is hard to avoid and where our wounded soul can stay trapped in its current state of consciousness. The sole purpose of depicting enraptured, almost allegorical scenes of nature is the painter's warning to avoid the “cutting knife“ in those critical moments in life and his guidance to prefer to hold the hand of Mother Nature, that gently strokes and comforts, through the help of painter's depiction. Max’s creation can also be understood as a parody of artworks, whose common motif and sole purpose is to please. Idealized depictions of nature can also have a therapeutic purpose, as they have the power to heal “wounded souls” and return us to a world of serenity and satisfaction. The realization, that an idealized painting motif on a wall can be the best remedy, when we feel unwell or discontent, represents a parody of the modern world, which offers us superficial and quick solutions to achieve happiness, contentment and well-being

The painting titled A gift depicts works by painters Jože Tisnikar and Teodor Tavželj. Why is it called A gift? This is a painting, in which Max wanted to show his respect for the wonders of nature. He focused on sea salt marshes, which are among the most endangered wetlands in the Mediterranean. We live in a technologically oriented and nature unfriendly society, where rich life of different ecosystems, including salt marshes is disappearing. The coastal salt marshes are very important for Slovenia not just because of rich animal life in these areas but also because of 45 species of plants from the red list of endangered species of Slovenia that also grow there.
Max points to the ecological problems of the modern world in his own artistic way. He used symbols he “borrowed“ from paintings of the painters mentioned above. His depiction of Tisnikar's crow illustrates the imminent decline of nature and its riches. The same fate awaits the famous European shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), a typical bird of the Mediterranean salt marshes, which sadly nowadays only rarely decides to nest in these areas. They remind us that the technological world wants to carelessly rob us of the beauty of the salt marshes. The red, yellow and orange colour illustrate this danger, as well as how nature has to fight with itself due to the indifference of men. In his painting Max symbolically depicted all our hopes in the form of the air bubbles floating and waiting for better times. Then the black crow will no longer stare so threateningly and reproachfully at us and life in the salt marshes under the blue sky will again become calm, exuberant and colourful. The colour spectrum has a calming effect on us, which inspires the observer with positivity. The colours are deliberately soothing, so that they bring a touch of joy into us, as if we were standing by the salt marshes and feeling a light breeze that hugs us.
A lot of established and amateur painters got a creative inspiration from an art mentor Teodor Tavželj, who knows the salt marshes and the Slovenian coast very well. Max's work is a tribute to the idea that only with a painted motif can we arouse enough noble emotion and feeling in people, which increase their self-awareness and activity toward the preservation of natural resources. That is why Max's recreation as well as work from other artists who warn and raise awareness with their works deserve special attention as they all represent A gift to art.

Association
Author: Max Zaxster
Measurements: 200 x 70 cm
Technique: oil, acrylic
Year: 2020