The Pittsburgh Galleries blog is a volunteer effort from Rick Byerly to promote Pittsburgh art events which feature artists from the area. The PghGalleries.com website effort is an up-to-date directory with Pittsburgh area art venues. Thanks go to Sirani Gallery of 5875 Forbes Ave in Squirrel Hill for being a sponsor and David L. Edwards Art and Anonymous for their donations to this effort. Donation and sponsor info can be found here. Rick Byerly, Uniquetake Photography
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“Existence” Press Release
International Images, ltd. is pleased to announce the new exhibition, “Existence,” showcasing the trio of former Russian dissident artists: photographer Genna Gurvich, painter, Alexander Anufriev, and ceramist Noi Volkov. Though they work in different mediums, all three artists are united in their digestion and interpretation of the human experience.
Genna Gurvich’s photographs are striking in their simplicity. Immediate and vivid, they beckon attention and contemplation. Each work is like its own frozen gesture of the modern world: a Buddah head in violaceous profile; the underside of an apple titled “Belly Button” done up in a sweet pink, playfully resembling something like the navels of putti; a close-up section of the spiky extensions of a pineapple skin reaching up and out in neon hues. All teasing and thoughtful, they almost comment on the tumult of a fast-paced modernity, and call us to take pleasure in, and interact with, all those items many have seen, and passed by, so often. Born in 1957 in Kiev, Ukraine, Gurvich is an award winning photographer, widely exhibited from Belarus to Washington, D.C. over the past two decades. He currently resides in Baltimore, MD.
Alexander Anufriev’s oils are beautifully wrought images of angels. But the scenes and figures are not what one would expect. Anufriev’s angels feel thoroughly of the moment, painted in clean lines and careful applications of color. As contemporary as they immediately appear, the paintings still resonate with a poise and sophistication to grant them a place in the larger context of the history of art, like his red-haired, instrument-holding angel under classical feeling arches in a nocturnal landscape, a purple-winged angel resembling an ethereal Raphael possessing a softly glowing, levitating Earth between his hands, or the striking red room reworking of an Annunciation. Born in 1940 in Moscow, angels became Anufriev’s primary theme soon after he witnessed the 1966 earthquake in Uzbekistan, Central Asia. In 1980, because of the spiritual nature of his art, Anufriev was forced into exile abroad. Poignant and haunting, his angels seem to speak to the shared experiences of all humanity, the undernetting that connects us all. Internationally exhibited, Anufriev’s work is also in the collection of many United States museums. He resides with his wife, cellist and composer Tanya Anisimova, in the Blue Ridge Mountains region of Central Virginia.
Noi Volkov’s teapots are not fit for a quaint Sunday brunch. In fact, they are far from the typical teapot, exploding into a realm all their own, defying the traditional ways of presentation of this household item. Bordering on sculpture, each features a highly original presentation of those superstars of Art History, from Leonardo to Dali. But these are no camp collages. Volkov’s reinterpretations are like careful tributes, worked in arresting colors and teeming with thoughtfully chosen (and cleverly placed) details from the artist’s oeuvres and self-portraiture, doing whole justice to those artists depicted.
The teapots are as engaging in their implication as they are delightful, in the skill of Volkov’s manipulations and craft, to behold. Raphael Sanzio’s Madonna and Child, Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec’s silhouetted Valentine “The Boneless,” and the head of Gustav Klimt’s radiant Adele, are instantly recognizable, painstakingly, and beautifully, true to the originals. They are fitting in these contemporary times, bringing the notion of the fine arts full circle - placing the well known faces and works of the giants of Art History on what was once a decorative art. Volkov has successfully elevated the teapot to the level in which those immortal artists he paints on them rest, an interconnectedness aptly suiting the exhibition’s title. Volkov was born in 1947 in Agapovka, Russia. His work has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions and international shows, and find a home in over two dozen prominent museums and many private collections, among them, Billy Wilder of Hollywood fame. He currently resides in Maryland.In accompaniment to “Existence”, the second floor gallery is filled with a playful diversity of Spring themed works by prominent local and international artists. Among the local artists featured are Vicki Ivancik, and her floral paintings, Sylvie Del Duca and Gail Murray.Please join us for the opening on April 24, 2009, coinciding with the 2009 Sewickley Spring Gallery Walk. International Images, ltd. is proud to host a reception with Gurvich and Anufriev in attendance, along with a special performance by Anufriev’s wife, internationally renowned cellist Tanya Anisimova from 6-9pm.
The exhibition will continue through the end of June 2009.Gallery hours are 11 am – 4 pm, Tuesday through Saturday and by appointment, (412) 741-3036.
Like what's posted on this blog and the website http://www.pghgalleries.com/ ? This is a volunteer effort so donations of any size are welcome which can be made via paypal here . Also at that link anyone interested in purchasing banner space, which includes placement on this blog and the PghGalleries.com website, can sign up there. Thanks! Rick Byerly
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Photography from rick byerly: http://www.uniquetake.com/ , http://www.planetyellowstone.com/, http://www.buypittsburghart.com/
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