nude #6
160x200 cm
oil on canvas
2004
a l e x e i b i r y u k o f f
nude #3
140x120 cm
oil on canvas
2004
head of an old man
140x120 cm
oil on canvas
2004
eyes
120x180 cm
oil on canvas
2004
belly with a green margin
150x200 cm
oil on canvas
2004
Harlan
150x150 cm
oil on canvas
2005
back on the black
150x200 cm
oil on canvas
2005
big enough
140x250 cm
oil on cardboard
2006
boy (no animal kills its own kind)
157x195 cm
mixed media
2005
mother
250x530 cm
mixed media
2006
scream
150x140 cm
mixed media
2005
Jeff
160x200 cm
oil on canvas
2007
Earl Grey
87x76 cm
oil on canvas
2007
son
80x80 cm
oil on canvas
2007
statement :
"must say, that I went through several strong influences, like Van Gogh, Impressionism, Fauvism, Mark Rothko, Lucian Freud, Jenny Saville, Damien Hirst and others, that have left visible traces in my works I guess, but techniques are only means of expressing of what stands behind the materials. A technique comes out of what you have got to say, so it may vary from theme to theme.
After the Naked Loneliness show I got interested in conceptual art and performance very much. The experience lets me see how expressive art can become when you combine paintings, sound and performance (all done by yourself) together and reach several channels of perception at a time. I strive to create a micro world, where the paintings are not just hanging on the walls, but where everything that is seen and heard interacts with the show space and involves the viewers, making them part of a bigger picture.
I respect very much those artists who choose to work on one motif or in the same technique over and over again, like Rothko or Cezanne, who painted the same mountain a hundred times. This approach is probably the most honest one and this is something I will definitely do when I grow older… Meanwhile I prefer not to bind myself by one technique but choose a certain theme and live with it for a year or more, reading and thinking about it, working on it day after day and see what it would dictate to me... It is very much like a journey – I am visiting a certain place that burns my mind, moves my thoughts and emotions, and makes me want to say something back. I keep doing that till I am exhausted, but every time this happens I realize that I cannot exhaust the theme I am working on, it is inevitably the other way round.
art is a game, with no restrictions or rules to play. Just play away and enjoy the freedom. Make your every step an act of art, make people see ordinary things from new angles, be serious, play, then mix it all up and see if anybody understands what you are doing..."
a l e x e i b i r y u k o f f
