Paul Hartal

• Name — Paul Hartal • Born — 1936 • Birthplace — Szeged, Hungary • Occupation — Writer, Poet, Visual Artist, Literary Critic and Theorist Paul Hartal (born 1936) is a Canadian painter and poet, born in Szeged, Hungary. He has created the term "Lyrical Conceptualism" to characterize his style in both painting and poetry, attempting to unite the scientific with the creative, or intuitive.

Arguably, Lyco art identifies the meaning of art with its life-serving purpose. Concerning itself with cultural transformation and the human condition, it seeks to expand the boundaries of aesthetics. Lyco art proposes to create a conscious bridge between the impulsive, intuitional, and planned elements of the creative process, thereby moving along the whole continuum of formative energies. This creative process represents the interaction of emotion and intellect, wherein the passion of logic and the logic of passion are inexorably interwoven through the voyage of aesthetic consciousness. Hartal's poetry was described as balancing "...dreamy emotion and discerning intellect..." Lycoism combines "geometric elements representing logic, shapeless forms symbolizing the creative process, and warm and cold colors indicating feelings." In addition, since science and technology impact so much of modern lifestyle during the electronic age, Lycoism views the relationship of art, science, and technology as a pivotal concern. Lycoism refuses to polarize science and art; instead, it seeks to unify aesthetics and ethics in works which involve the use of science and technology by the artist in the creation of beauty. In accordance with these premises, Hartal formed The Centre for Art, Science and Technology in Montreal during the 1980s. The Centre has implemented a variety of interdisciplinary projects exploring the connections between several branches of arts and sciences, including painting, poetry, music, architecture, communication, artificial intelligence, mathematics, cosmology, and space exploration.

Hartal relays that as a student in Szeged he participated in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and that a few months later he burned all his poems and papers and escaped to freedom.

• Illustration — Chateau – Oil on canvas, 76 cm x 92 cm, 1976 Collection: Musee du Chateau Ramezay Museum, Montreal • Illustration — Tree of Life with Six Fingers – Acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24", 2003 Collection of Hanseo University Art Museum, Seoul