Michael Pauker

"Studio Sweepings" Contemporary Large-Scale Surreal Figurative Abstract Interior

2007

Fanciful mid-century modern abstract of trapeze artists by Brooklyn artist Hilda Dora Pape Arp (b. 1909). This 1962 highly abstracted depiction of trape...

Modern abstract interpretation of a traditional European aristocratic portrait complete with crown, elongated neck, bustier neckline and a hint of a cinched waist titled "Card Illusion" "Иллюзия карты" by Vadim Kurov (Russian Federation, b-1947). Signed by the artist lower right corner Вадим Куров (Bagum Kypot) (Vadim Kurov); signed and dated "99" on verso. Presented in a rustic giltwood frame. Image, 37.13"H x 26.13"W. Vadim Kurov graduated Art Industrial School. VM Mukhina. Member of the Russian Union of Artists and the International Association of Artists. Lives and works in St. Petersburg. Born in the city of Kazan, USSR, in 1947, graduate of the Kazan School of Art, graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Art and Design. The main topics of work: theatrical compositions, ballet world, a fantastic portrait, literary - philosophical still-life and landscape. His paintings are in the collections of European countries, as well as in the collections of the Museum of Theatre Arts of St. Petersburg, the Ministry of Culture, the State Museum of Fine Arts in Kazan, the Georges Pompidou Museum, the Cultural Center of Los Angeles, State Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami Museum, Prague Modern Art, the Museum of the Soviet and Russian Art Shanghai. EXHIBITIONS (partial list): 1989/90 – participation in the exhibitions/auctions of Drouot-Richelieu, Paris 1991 – 10-10 Gallery, St. Petersburg1991 – Nurland, Norway 1991 – Hamilton, Canada 1992/1993/1994/1995 – “New Romantics of St. Petersburg” (Zerkalo/ATUS Galleries) 1994 – MALAUKSIA Gallery, Helsinki, Finland1996 – Bremen, Germany 1997 – personal exhibition at the Zerkalo Gallery, St. Petersburg 1998 – Vincent Louis Gallery...

David Mellen's work is not easily defined, vacillating between human flesh and metaphoric representation, the paintings beg you to look deeper and to consider their physical properties. Duchamp, de Kooning, Bacon, Giacometti, Rothko are all direct influences for Mellen, yet he can not be strictly categorized as a representational or an abstract artist. Mellen paints forms reminiscent of human bodies, building them one day at a time for the duration of several months. An endless process of addition and subtraction is at work as the loosely defined figures emerge in sharp contrast with precisely executed geometric backgrounds of neutral colors. The juxtaposition between exposed canvas, well-defined geometric background and a form as the subject of the painting is a motif that has followed Mellen’s work through the years. The entities in Mellen’s work reference actions rather than concrete characters. For example, in Descent (2020) a fall from grace...

Michael Azgour is an artist and educator whose work addresses the impact of digital imagery on contemporary culture. His paintings combine evocative, expressive representation with g...