Cover Artist - Aron Belka

Disrupted Realism:

Aron Belka’s Striking Portrayal of the Human Experience and Nature’s Beauty

Written By: Cayman Clevenger

Photo Credits: Aron Belka and Lemieux Galleries

The likeness between Aron Belka and Vincent Van Gogh is so uncanny that one can’t help but do a double-take. Despite being taller and more advanced in years than the great master of post-impressionism, Belka bears an astounding resemblance to him. Van Gogh’s 1888 “Self Portrait as a Painter” could almost be a portrait of Belka himself, whose red hair and beard, coupled with his unique take on the world and significant technical skill, make this comparison particularly apt. Belka even shares that when he visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, patrons repeatedly mistook him for an actor portraying the artist.

But unlike Van Gogh, who is rumored to have sold a single painting and never saw his work gain acclaim during his

lifetime, Belka’s work has already earned him international recognition, including as the grand prize winner of the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series. His work is represented by one of Julia Street’s most respected galleries, LeMieux, and it holds a place in the permanent collections of museums across the country.

Belka’s beautiful, light-filled, Mid-City New Orleans studio is where he creates his iconic portraits and stunning landscapes. The studio boasts exposed brick and large, antique glass windows that open to display a lovely view of the skyline, and allow the sounds of the city, from the nearby train to the hustle and bustle of the Lafitte Greenway, to filter in. In the center of the room is a vintage powder-pink sofa, the only item in the studio not tailor-made by Belka for the creation of his highly textured, uniquely-marked masterpieces.

In 2004, Belka uprooted his life and moved to New Orleans to support his then-wife’s academic pursuits in epidemiology. Known for his abstract art, Belka decided to switch to more representational works when he arrived in Louisiana. It was Hurricane Isaac that left an indelible mark on him, prompting him to unveil his first series in New Orleans. While his pieces were representational in nature, they were also permeated by his abstract influences. He dabbled in larger canvases, experimenting with diverse marks and textures in his landscape and portrait pieces. In his search for inspiration, he met many fascinating people in Louisiana and captured their essence through his lens.

Belka takes tremendous pride in each step of the artistic process, from hand-stretching his large-scale canvases to preparing each of them with gesso paint and adding layer upon layer of thinlyapplied oil paint. Belka then works outward to the thick and unique texture that has become one of his calling cards.

His art is an intricate and deliberate process of experimentation and discovery. He has a specific vision in mind when creating each piece and will go to great lengths to achieve it. He explores various tools and techniques to capture a particular type of mark or texture, constantly pushing the boundaries of his artistry.

Belka utilizes every artistic tool available to him, from ink rollers and silkscreen squeegees to brushes of every size and shape and palette knives. He even uses a number of found objects, such as plaster shaping tools, glass cleaning instruments and construction tools to create the unique marks and texture present in his works. Belka’s use of unorthodox tools allows him to achieve a level of smoothness and precision that traditional brushes and knives alone cannot match.

Belka is a star in the Disrupted Realism movement that challenges traditional conceptions of realism. His paintings captivate with their precision while sidestepping notions of traditional realism. Rather than mimicking a photograph, Belka employs abstract oil layers, each stroke applied with varying degrees of intention and spontaneity. Belka’s backgrounds pay homage to his artistic beginnings in abstract art. By leaving areas and creating “windows” in his paintings, he provides a glimpse into the past and how his work has evolved over time.

Belka’s work has a gestural quality about it. His brush strokes and marks are not invisible; rather, they are intentionally left exposed in the work to express dynamism and movement. Each stroke and mark is a deliberate decision, resulting in a unique and captivating piece of art. Belka’s process and deliberate technique pushes his works towards abstraction, seamlessly integrating subject with background.

In Belka’s art, particularly in his portraits, there’s a profound blend of time-honored figurative imagery and cutting-edge abstraction. His strokes of expertly layered oil paint take on a lifelike quality, as tangible as skin itself. Each mark on the canvas seems to dance with a lively energy. And as Belka works his magic, pushing, spreading and etching pigment into canvas, the lines between his living and breathing subjects and their painted depictions remarkably blur.

Amid this orchestrated disorder, a profound likeness emerges; it’s as if Belka’s mark-making pierces to the very soul of his subjects.

Belka draws inspiration from the world around him. “Painting is essentially the act of mark making; you are just pushing paint around, really, when you get to the bare bones of it,” Belka said. “Over time, I developed and nurtured this curiosity of what kind of mark a tool will make, experimenting with each tool. I have seen marks on the side of buildings, like a roller mark, and that led me to experimenting with rollers in my work.”

The canvas bears the soul of Belka’s subjects, at times portraying unfiltered joy, like a masked parade goer who seems to have an enchanting story to tell. At other times, his works reek with sorrow, exposing an unmistakable darkness and evoking feelings of sadness.

Belka’s art is a symphony of texture and color, a masterful fusion of realism and abstraction that speaks to the depths of the human experience. His portraits are windows into the soul, capturing the unguarded essence of his subjects with a raw and emotional intensity that is both mesmerizing and haunting.

Belka works off his own reference photos whenever possible. He typically tries to catch them off guard, like during the course of a conversation or while performing some intricate task. Belka once asked his models to write their name from across the room with a pen affixed to a long rod. Belka explains that catching them off guard allows him to expose, capture, and understand their unguarded likeness and get to the essence of the person, not as they hold themselves out to the world, but as they truly are.

Working from his reference photos, Belka has mastered the ancient and notoriously unforgiving medium of oil paint on canvas. With the skillful strokes of his myriad instruments, Belka captures the soul of a shrimper, the toil of backbreaking labor, the years of physical stress captured in every wrinkle, a longing in his eyes, bloodshot from yet another long day on the water, his skin leathered from exposure to the sun.

In Belka’s hands, oil paint becomes a living, breathing thing, a medium that he manipulates with a skill and precision that is nothing short of extraordinary. His canvases are alive with movement and energy, each brushstroke and mark a testament to his unyielding dedication to his craft.

But Belka’s art is more than just a technical marvel. It is a reflection of his own deeply felt emotions and experiences, a visual diary of his journey through life, the people and places he finds beautiful, haunting, memorable. His work is an ode to the resilience of the human spirit, a celebration of the beauty and pain that makes us who we are.

Belka’s work captures and portrays the essence of his subjects, evoking joy, sorrow and an unmistakable darkness. His most compelling figurative works capture the essence of their subjects at a time of extreme stress, exhaustion or distraction. His Bombay Sapphire Award-winning portrait, for example, featured his then-wife immediately after her return from fighting on the front lines of the Ebola crisis in Africa. Another piece features the subject of Ebola contact tracing, its subject gripped with uncertainty, his gaze displaying an unspoken yearning.

While Belka’s portraits have garnered him international accolades and critical recognition, his landscapes capture the same emotions of the nature around him and resonate deeply with both viewers and collectors.

Intrigued by the beauty and complexity of the Louisiana landscape, Belka embarked on a voyage deep into the bayous and marshes of south Louisiana. His 2020 exhibition at LeMieux titled “Golden Meadows to Grande Islands,” spotlighted the immense beauty of a region that is little known outside Louisiana. There’s a certain magic woven into these pieces, and Belka captures the nuance and sublime nature of the Louisiana landscape in a way few before him ever have.

Belka is captivated by the Louisiana coast, a region where the delicate interplay of water and land offers a unique tableau. This balance creates a palpable intrigue in his paintings, evoking a sense of tension and allure. His expeditions to these untouched terrains allow him to witness and portray the stark yet harmonious interplay of natural beauty with elements of human-made infrastructures, such as oil rigs, power lines, houses, and boats. This convergence became a muse for his work, illustrating the fragile balance between mankind and nature.

In these tranquil settings, Belka’s concept of Disrupted Realism truly comes to life. Belka depicts the enveloping waters, dense foliage, and occasionally looming man made constructs with a mingling of stark reality and abstract flourishes. Each brushstroke reveals the artist’s profound connection and understanding of his surroundings, painted in vivid greens and blues, muddy browns and oranges, all juxtaposed against the marshy horizon.

In Belka’s “Grand Isle Tempest,” there’s an undeniable sense of an approaching storm. The deep blue hues envelop the scene, casting foreboding shadows over a terrain that has defiantly stood against numerous storms. The piece accentuates nature’s might, its capacity to inspire fear, and yet, its inherent beauty. With just a few deft strokes of a palette knife, Belka alludes to an entire township, hinting at the vulnerability of man-made structures against the sheer force of a storm.

As compelling as his portraits are, it’s no surprise that landscapes dominate his acclaimed solo gallery exhibitions. In his upcoming show slated for April and May 2024, the distinct flora and fauna of the bayous and marshlands will once again be the spotlight.

In the modern south, Aron Belka stands as a beacon of unrivaled technical skill, seamlessly melding the stark realism of his subjects with the ethereal strokes, textures, and mark making of abstraction. From the piercing gazes of his portraits to the atmospheric allure of his landscapes, Belka masterfully captures the essence of the human experience and the sublime beauty of nature. His distinctive approach to Disrupted Realism not only challenges artistic conventions but also transports viewers into a realm where emotions, memories, and raw energy converge. The profound resonance of his works, be it the poignant tales of strife in the Ebola frontline or the magnetism of Louisiana’s bayous, underscores Belka’s unparalleled genius, echoing the transformative power of art and its timeless connection with humanity.

Belka’s work is currently on view at LeMieux Galleries at 332 Julia St., New Orleans.