with Armando Alemdar Ara

• Spanish
• English
• Italian

Artist | Art Historian

Artists such as Armando Alemdar represent the archetype of the irreplaceable and unrepentant creator so well that it is impossible to imagine him doing anything else in life. For him, visual creation and intellectual reflection on art are inseparable experiences, both coexisting within him and his day-to-day life with unquestionable fluidity and naturalness.

Armando was born and raised in Macedonia, to a family that stimulated his creativity from the beginning, deliberately and unconsciously enriching and strengthening his interest in the arts and culture in thousands of ways. Perhaps for this reason it has proven to be relatively natural for Armando to create a deeply personal visual language, earning him a place on the international contemporary art market. And perhaps it is also for this that Armando studied Art History at Kingston University in London, becoming in turn a co-founder of the artistic movement Neomodernism, which lends a special relevance to the aesthetic and spiritual values present in an art work and which, guided by this philosophical and artistic vision, demands that the soul of the artwork be concentrated in the gaze.

This interview was recorded after the advice on social isolation due to Coronavirus was relaxed in the United Kingdom, and one of the more important aspects of the conversation was, without doubt, to discover just how seriously this disease had affected Armando’s health, and how his post Covid-19 work has been influenced by his illness.

The interview between Carla and Armando is full of reflections on both life and art. Between them they opened windows, dusted down deep memories and poured light onto sublime visions, something only the alchemy of good conversation can do, thanks to the miraculous properties of the spoken word. Hopefully you will feel the same and agree with these sentiments.

And now, enjoy the interview!

Listen to Podcast
This interview was recorded on the 7th of June 2020 and released on the 1st of July 2020

Further Information:

Related Links
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Wikipedia | Neomodernism

References during the interview
Neomodernism 00:41 | Sufism 01:00 | Ying & Yang 01:33 | Manifest 02:01 | Platonism 04:03 | Art Movement 05:08 | André Durand 06:00 | Plotinus 10:05 | Picasso 10:41 | Composition 12:34 | Modernism 12:50 | Macedonia 13:52 | Yugoslavia 16:28 | Socialism 16:30 | Whirling Dervish 19:53 | Dervish 21:48 | Titian 24:22 | Auguste Rodin 24:30 | Egon Schiele 24:42 | Gustav Klimt 24:44 | Renaissance 25:50 | Ancient Greece 35:53 | German Idealism 28:02 | Immanuel Kant 28:08 | Abstract Art 29:42 | Modernist Art 30:18 | Mark Rothko 31:35 | Figurative Art 34:02 | Expressionism 34:36 | 2008 Crisis 36:41 | German Expressionism 37:16 | Marxism 38:19 | Existentialism 41:18 | Enfant Terrible 41:33 | Vincent van Gogh 41:41 | Atelier 43:47 | Bauhaus 48:34 | Wassily Kandinsky 48:39 | Alexander Scriabin 48:42 | Transparent Glaze 49:44 | Goethe‘s Theory of Colours 50:25 | Mythology 52:10 | Greek Mythology 52:23 | Archetype 52:31 | Monotheism 53:20 | Hermes 53:22 | Jesus 53:23 | Mercury 53:39 | Icarus 54:25 | Coronavirus (Covid-19) 56:25 | A Dialectical Philosophy of Art 01:03:27 | Propaganda 01:04:32 | Soviet Art 01:04:35 | Religious Art 01:04:39 | Dogma 01:05:30 | GX Gallery 01:06:24 | Camberwell 01:06:26

Neomodernism Manifesto:

Neomodernism is a movement in art that espouses spiritual and aesthetic values in art. Neomodernism is also a philosophy of art, a way of looking and creating a new relationship with works of art from the 15th to the 20th century. Neomodernism cuts through the media hype surrounding old master and modernist works of art, labels that have blinded the public – not to say made it hostile – to these works’ Neomodern message.

Related Images:

Image Credits: Cover photo by Nicolas Laborie | Armando with his father | Armando in his studio | Armando in his studio | Armando in his studio with Breakthrough 2014 | Portrait of Armando during exhibition by Nicolas Laborie | Portrait of Armando in blue room by Nicolas Laborie

Artworks (in order of appearance):

Titles: St Anthony – Oil on linen, 2019 | Embrace – Oil on linen, 2017 | The Persuasion – Oil on linen, 2015 | Breakthrough – Oil on linen, 2015 | Prometheus – Charcoal on watercolour paper, 2011 | Dancers – Pencil on paper, 2019 | Inner Seasons – Ink on paper, 2016 | Grandfather by Armando aged 17 – Pastel on paper, 1989 | Prometheus – Oil on linen, 2011 | Io – Oil on linen, 2016 | Struggle – Conte crayon on watercolour paper, 2015 | Salome – Ink on watercolour paper, 2016 | Hope – Ink on paper, 2014 | Spring – Ink on paper, 2016 | Spring II – Oil on linen, 2017 | Sufi – Ink on paper, 2015 | Ariadne – Ink on paper, 2011 | The Question – Ink on paper, 2015 |  Memory – Oil on linen, 2014 | The Descent – Oil on linen, 2014 | The Creation of Aphrodite – Oil on linen, 2009 | The Kiss – Oil on linen, 2010 | Embrace – Oil on linen, 2009 | Hermes – Oil on linen, 2016 | Abduction of Auropa – Oil on linen, 2011 | Saviour – Oil on linen, c.2012 | Pandora – Oil on linen, 2012 | Job Transcending – Oil on linen, 2001 | Nucleus – Oil on linen, 2013 | Healing Energy – Oil on linen, 2016 | Enigma – Oil on linen, 2014 | Spring: Persephone Leaving the Underworld (with André Durand) – Oil on linen, c.2002 | Apollo and Pan – Oil on linen, 2014 | Lilith – Oil on linen, 2014 | The Call – Oil on linen, 2008 | Transfiguration – Oil on linen, 2003 | Zeus – Oil on linen, 2005 | Icarus – Oil on linen, 2012 | Precipice – Oil on linen, 2020 | Saviour – Oil on linen, 2020 | One – Oil on linen, 2020

Interview Credits:

Production by Carla Tofano & Toby Deveson | Subtitles by Valentina Sarno | Onset artwork: Photography by Toby Deveson & drawing of Carla by Alexandra Veres | Title music written and performed by Maya Petrovna | Cameras & Sound kindly supplied by Jim Shannon & Murray Stewart