Fluid Expressions

Endre Penovac’s paintings are a dramatic dialogue between the control over a craft and the chaotic energy of watercolour. It’s like a dance between his hand and his mind that take turns leading, posing as crucial connectors to the vitality of watercolour painting.

- Kanupriya Pachisia

While some of his paintings are doors, others are windows - they are all portals that transport you into Endre Penovac’s world of colour. The honest presentation of Penovac’s world through his bold colours, fluid ink and expert brushstrokes have become his own trade mark as an artist. His illustrations are nothing short of an alternate existence in response to a dominant narrative of life that surrounds.

Born in Tornjos, Serbia, Penovac completed his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Novi Sad, and now lives in Backa, Topola. An independent artist, he has been exhibiting his work across Europe since almost the last four decades. The themes he revisits in his paintings are inspired from our immediate world. This theme has become his signature style. Speaking of style, he tells us, “Style comes from individuality. In other words, it should reflect your personality. When we have found ourselves our style has been reached.”

The drama in Penovac’s work is not depicted through discreet geometric compositions where horizontals and verticals oppose each other but by simple brushstrokes that fade at the boundaries, bleeding naturally on the paper. This contact between the brush and the paper is a wordless coherency that demonstrates his gift of form as a profound homecoming. His subtle yet stunning pieces of art come easily to him. He explains, “I never choose a subject. They are all around me. I look for an opportunity where the elements of the painting and the technique successfully meet the theme and deliver the message clearly.”