Mati Klarwein: Artistically Musical

'Bitches Brew' Miles Davies

 

Mati Klarwein, could be considered a genius by artwork standards alone, the German born artist has to be labelled as a pioneer and a world citizen having lived in so many countries.
Mati and his family had initially moved back to the newly formed Israel (At this point Germany was Nazi occupied). After some time, Paris would be the next stop and this would be one of the key stages in his life.

This is were Mati would begin his voyage into art but his travels and time spent living in countries such as Tibet, India, Bali, North Africa, Turkey, Europe and the Americas would shape his surrealist psychedelic style.

As much as he was well travelled. He also embraced the cultures and religions he surrounded himself with, after which he did something as bold as his painting which was to add the name Abdul (After embracing Islam he adopted the Muslim name) to his own name which is of Jewish decent in an attempt to bridge the unrest between the two communities. (This would later be removed).

Sixties New York would be a main stay for him, and who would blame him being in such a creative melting pot. Meeting people like Jimi Hendrix (Who he did a portrait for, see below).

'Jimi Hendirx'

A plethora of musicians during the 60s and 70s sort out Mati for his artwork for their album releases. Carlos Santana (Mati can be seen in the artwork smiling wearing a hat and sunglasses, see below), Miles Davies, Earth Wind And Fire, the list goes on. Klarweins visions on canvas maybe some how summed up visually what these musician´s had created musically.



'Annunciation' Carlos Santana

The music and the art that emerged from that era was nothing but outstanding and when the two combine in this case - we have something special, that will be admired long after their passing.

Mati would finally reside in Majorca, a little island of the Spanish mainland.  This is where he would ultimately lay to rest. The idea that a life lived to its full capacity is a life lived well comes to mind, no boundaries, just the willingness to explore and create. This kind of thought processes has long served creative types well. This might be my cue to buy a blank canvas and exercise my thoughts.

Abdi, TCC