Reviews of acrylic wall art by Basia Tov

Basia Tov’s paintings exemplify the urban landscape of longing, desire, and solitude. Even when they appear in public places, her figures are deconstructed of their individuality as though the City, with its impatience, has somehow managed to imprint its stronger identity onto these urbanites.
In “X-mas Party,” the party-goers pay homage to the wine and festivity of the bar, yet their very essence is either absorbed or emitted by the ball of light. And the figure huddling in a fetal position at right: is he asserting his identity or unable to accept the inevitable loss of self? “Our Moment Together” captures the intimacy of a parting or a reunification. Perhaps a modern reflection upon Pablo Neruda’s immortal lines “I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where./ I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;/ So I love you because I know no other way/ than this: Where I does not exist, nor You….” The figures, just as the aforementioned urban-landscape, melt into each other—the apex of their joining is the blending of the blues and oranges. Where one ends and the other begins is indiscernible. And finally, “Longing:” The only distinct features in the painting are that of the Madonna-like mother or wife gazing upon her child, a primordial being of possibilities. The question the viewer is left with is whether it is the figures who are longing for the inexplicable or whether it is the viewer who longs for what is so precious and indescribable in words, yet so apparent in this painting.

—An H. Nguyen
Tertulia Magazine

Basia Tov was born in Poland in 1973. Since childhood she responded strongly to the quest of discovery through the pictorial arts. Her early training won her the City Art Award for children in Warsaw. She moved on to study with "Test" Gallery, the modern experimental scene in Poland that led her to the exhibition of her paintings and access to private collectors interested in her work. She moved to New York City still keeping contact with the art movement of Eastern Europe. By 1996 she won the annual Royal Grounds Contest for her work in photography. While in New York City Ms Tov studied art and design at FIT, graduated with honors and exhibited her designs in clubs and galleries throughout the city. Presently Ms Tov resides in New York City where, the juxtaposition of cultures and artistic scenes continue to color strongly her present vision. The textures and monotones from her early training harmonize bold geometrics with a busy more experimental mass of abstract figures reminiscence of New York life. Her later works are a merge of brighter colors and less texture all in an active mix believing to fuse the one with the whole, the past with the future and an experience where life in union, in the mist of powerful diversity, still holds promise of a greater height coexisting.

Gilda Cao,
Curator

Contact Basia at: basia@justbasia.com.

Copyright notice: Basia Tov owns the copyright to her artwork shown on this site. If you are interested in using any of these images , please contact Basia Tov by writing to basia@justbasia.com.