Morton Fine Art to open an exhibition of Andrei Petrov's new paintings
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Saturday, November 9, 2024


Morton Fine Art to open an exhibition of Andrei Petrov's new paintings
Andrei Petrov, Every Sunny Days a Gift, 2023. Oil on canvas, 38 x 38 in. Courtesy Morton Fine Art and the artist.



WASHINGTON, DC.- Morton Fine Art presents Footprints in the Snow: A Siberian Escape Story, a solo exhibition of oil paintings by the artist Andrei Petrov. Composed of twelve new works that riff on the mindsets and landscapes of his paternal grandfather’s journey to freedom, this exhibition is dedicated to the refugees and millions striving for freedom in Ukraine. The artist’s seventh solo show with the gallery, Footprints in the Snow will be on view from April 12 – May 7, 2023 at Morton Fine Art’s Washington, D.C. location (52 O St NW #302).

Andei Petrov’s most personal body of work to date, Footprints in the Snow was inspired by the story of his grandfather’s escape from a Siberian gulag in 1915. Having spent over a year in the labor camp’s miserable conditions after he was branded an anarchist by the Russian Empire, the elder Petrov broke out with the aid of a black robed Russian Orthodox priest, and made his way through the frozen taiga into China. After smuggling himself onto a boat to Liverpool, Andrei’s grandfather eventually settled in Philadelphia. Long inspired by this amazing journey, the artist set out with this series to capture the brighter moments of this harrowing experience. Through texture and color, the new collection evokes a range of his grandfather’s emotions, from the struggles of solitude in frigid conditions to the ecstasies of securing safety and survival—reuniting for the first time with a warm bed and a hot meal.

Applying the delicacies of light and grandeurs of scale inherent to the Hudson River School, alongside approaches to color and form native to Abstract Expressionism, Petrov’s inventive style has arrived at a point that is recognizably unique to the artist. Combining handmade tools with self-developed studio techniques, Petrov scrapes, glazes and effaces various parts of his canvases in sections, revising compositions that he builds out from black-and-white drawings. Timing is crucial: Petrov works with oil paint that is thickly applied and then partially removed while still tacky, eventually arriving at levels of timefulness and wear that resemble ancient masonry. Glazing and tinting with qualities of light in mind, the final product is a complex and multilayered experience, full of the traces and tracks of Petrov’s restless, searching process. Evoking instances of light that strike only at certain times of day, Petrov’s compositions seem to crystalize a moment, or a mood, without ever falling into the concretion of stasis.

Having long been inspired by his ancestral backstory, the artist’s desire to work directly with the themes of his grandfather’s journey came as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. An American with Ukrainian and Georgian ancestry on both sides, Petrov dove into a heightened awareness of his history and the implications of his national identity. Figuratively following his grandfather’s footsteps of escape, the artist experienced new insights about the qualities and development of his own artistic journey—a vocation that for him has always been an exploration of movement, enacting the eye’s pursuit across the canvas. Rejecting a sense of static immobility that often characterizes abstraction, Petrov’s work approaches a kind of presence that, without directly reproducing the shapes of nature, strives for a proximity to life.

In the works that make up Footsteps, expanses of white and blue are bisected by furrows of black, yellow and red. The canvases seem to suggest the topography of winter landscapes as seen from above. Petrov notes the natural consonance of lines and shapes that seem to connect one work to another when hanging together in the gallery, and likens the arrangement to an assembly of landforms, fitting together or drifting apart. Conceiving of these works like tectonic plates approaching a Pangean unity gives Petrov a sense of familial connection across the immeasurable expanses of time and space.

In that spirit of unity, the artist dedicates this show to the people of Ukraine, with particular sympathy for the refugees who have had to flee the same repressive imperialism his grandfather once faced. By making history present through a poetic sense of place, the artist teases out resonances woven throughout various surfaces and planes. “There’s a presence in the forms I’ve chosen to represent these feelings,” Petrov says of his work, “You get rewarded by looking at the facts up close.”
-
Andrei Petrov (b. 1966, Washington, D.C.) The production of a painting begins with a pencil or ink drawing on paper which I extrapolate from and edit as I work the canvas. First with pencil or charcoal and then with color washes done with acrylic or ink, I map the raw canvas and allow it to be ingrained with the materials. Once satisfied with the composition and balance, the surface is sealed with a clear acrylic so as to allow the use of oil based pigments. Handmade tools are used to drag, apply, scrape and blend the paint across the canvas plane. Sandpaper and rags also propel the evolution of the work. The addition and subtraction of paint are meant to act as a metaphor for the intentions and motives for which the paintings are based. – Andrei Petrov










Today's News

April 11, 2023

Not Picassos, but still precious: Museums return silver lost to the Nazis

MoMA opens the first exhibition to focus on Georgia O'Keeffe's practice of drawing series

Works by Rashid Johnson & Tracey Emin among recent Israel Museum acquisitions

The Met announces fall 2023 artist commissions for the Fifth Avenue facade and Great Hall

'Picasso: Celebrating 50 Years' on view at Rosenbaum Contemporary in Palm Beach

"Tony Moore: Eternal Becoming Wood-fired Ceramic Sculptures and Fire Paintings" opens at Garrison Art Center

The Portland Museum of Art announces major reinstallation of permanent collection galleries

Sound and garden installation will open on Clyfford Still Museum terraces in May

Morton Fine Art to open an exhibition of Andrei Petrov's new paintings

Mullin Automotive Museum hosts exhibit featuring the works of Keith Collins

Al Jaffee, king of the Mad Magazine fold-in, dies at 102

Modern and contemporary art headlines Shannon's Spring sale

National Gallery of Art acquires works by Charles White and Doris Adelaide Derby

'Hey, Mr. Living Composer': 'Champion' takes shape at the Met

Chinati appoints new Trustees

Solange curates powerful performances of Black joy and pain at BAM

Jennifer Muller, choreographer whose dances told human tales, dies at 78

Myriam Ullens, philanthropic baroness with a disputed fortune, dies at 70

African American Museum, Dallas presents "Frank Frazier - The Visionary, The Advocate, The Artist"

Sargent's Daughters opens its third solo exhibition of Wendy Red Star's work

Top Cultural and Natural Attractions to See in Tibet

Choose the Right Size and Capacity for Your Under Deck Water Tank

How to choose the right Lattice Semiconductor FPGA for your project

2023 Home Decor: The Best Closet Door Options for Your Space

How fast does a Solar Electric Scooter Go?

World Famous NFT Artist Launches Long-Awaited Digital Art Gallery

Turning Your Downtime Into an Energy Boost Moment

Top 5 Virtual Art Galleries in 2023

Artist Seek One to exhibit "Playtime" at The White Room Gallery in the Hamptons




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful