Darko Topalski
Via Site into the World
Article published in daily newspapers “Gradjanski List”
Darko Topalski
young artist from Novi Sad
with the largest online gallery in our country...
If you type at google “ fine art Serbia” , a link leading to the site of “Topalski” art gallery will appear on the first, top ranking position. Darko Topalski, a young artist from Novi Sad, via this on-line gallery, the largest in our country, presents his oils, watercolours, pastels, drawings, icons, photographs and many other things. As he has noted down on this web presentation, completely done by him, “you are in a possibility to discover a whole new world of dreams and hopes, with no visa or passport required at all.” Even though he hasn’t got a formal academic education because of financial means, as well as because of numerous prejudices about artists, his artistic talent is undeniable. He has attended various artistic courses, schools and workshops, and worked with many artists. As a result, many foreign artists have noticed his works.
“I like technic, and I like art, too. Despite the fact that these are two different realms of interest, I have managed to merge the two together, and the site itself presents their combination. I present my works and myself to the public via this site, creating numerous contacts in this way; so far it has made great success, registering an increasing number of visits day after day. So far, it is the largest site of a single artist in this region, having more than 360 pages and about 6000 links to other artistic sites. Its main purpose is to enable me to carry out sales abroad, since art market at home is pretty poor and paintings are not appreciated properly. Take this as an example - framed watercolour 30x40 is sold at about 3000, 00din here, out of which you have to pay for a frame and gallery exhibition, leaving the artist with about 1000, 00din per painting. On the other hand, one can get 400€ and more for such painting in the West. In 2003, my works were sold for 600€ at Mallorca. So, the difference is very sharp.”, says Topalski. “Thanks to the site, I’ve been invited to the places I couldn’t get to otherwise. The organizers of the biennale in Florence saw my paintings at the site and invited me, as well as the organizers of many other art shows. “
In 2003, Topalski exhibited in the gallery “Art-Domain” in Mallorca, whereas in 2004 he won Roquebrune Cup Martin prize for the painting “The Final Gathering” at 16-th Grand Prix in Nice. Another interesting thing you can find at the pages of this site, is that a Brazilian composer Bernaro Uzeda asked Topalski for a closer look at some works after he had found and seen some of them at the “Absolute Art”, whose member Topalski is. Uzeda explained that he heard music thanks to seeing paintings, which act as inspiration for his works. Topalski sent him some works in high resolution, and Uzeda got so excited that he asked for more. Topics of Topalski’s works are mainly esoteric with a great number of symbols, but you can also find landscapes, marine motifs, clouds,…
Experiencing art as “the universal language which communicates for itself” his techniques are aimed “to search for the answers”.
“Art is a great challenge for me, because I’m always trying to create a new painting better than the previous one, setting certain tasks in front of me which are to be fulfilled. I like the very process of creation when you make something with the completely new value out of nothing. Each painting of mine has its story and exposes me in some way, some questions about things going on in my life, whereas for the person watching them they loom as revelations, offering every time something different. There is a certain possibility of transformation inside them, they shift and change like books, depending on the light in the room, as well as on the inner feelings of the spectator.”,- points out our guest, who in his own words has drawn from his early years, but his parents became aware of it only after some prominent art historians called attention to the quality of his works.
“The misfortune of our educational system is in the fact that it unifies and gathers everyone into the same lot, the ones who want to study and the others who don’t, so it is questionable what could have become of me if I had enrolled The Art Academy. To be honest, I have an phobia about education because in the first grade in my primary school, even though I was the best in Art, at the end of the year, the teacher gave me B because she was positively sure that my parents had helped me.