Temo Svirely was born on April 22, 1964, in the Republic of Georgia. He graduated from the Tbsili Academy of Fine Arts in 1992 and his paintings have been very widely exhibited internationally since. Temo now lives in Kiev, Ukraine.
Temo Svirely’s dramatic, large-scale oil paintings combine swirls and daubs of rich, thickly applied oils with flatter application of colour. Generous application of white paint makes his paintings luminous, bright and (sometimes) joyous. His highly distinctive brushwork fills his work with movement and energy.
This is how Temo describes the absorbing, almost hypnotic process of creating a painting: ‘I apply this or that artistic form of expression as a means of conveying as well as possible the essence of the world in which I live and breathe. A real artistic moment occurs when a pause arises in between thoughts. Thoughts are absent at the time of a game. We are inside this process, directly touching the essence of what has captured us. The player feels only the manner of play and movement from one moment to another.'
