The director of Ten43 Gallery is pleased to announce that an exhibition of the current paintings by Russian Artists Aleksandr Pesterev, Olga Bueva & Pavel Belyaev will be held at Ten43 Gallery from September 8th through October 22nd, 2011. There will be an opening reception September 15th 6-8 pm. This show will feature fourteen paintings by Aleksandr Pesterev, nine paintings by Olga Bueva & seven works by Pavel Belyaev. This will be the first exhibition of these artists outside of Russia.

Pesterev believes that the process of making art is a ritual. His works represent philosophical immersion in nuances of tone and color in thick muted earth tones applied over the canvas. His nature inspired abstract work is done in heavy impasto applied liberally on the canvas with a palette knife. One image depicts a skull, nature morte, suspended in the upper left as if it were an austere smoky guardian. The still life paintings of monasteries crumbling with dripping oil paint express the dichotomy of old and new Russia.

The shapes and figures on the canvases by Pesterev are views from his current home in Tot’ma, Russia. Even so Pesterev argues that one’s place of residence does not influence art. Instead the artist focuses on and immerses himself in the object of depiction, minimizing it to a color, shape or line. Details disappear and images of wooden houses, churches and monasteries become organic, and subtlety captivating. Pesterev’s work demonstrates an aspiration of self-knowledge, as if his markings are meditations on a flat surface.

The work of Olga Bueva has a feminine joyful quality about it. These still life canvases depict the quotidian life of domestic apartment dwelling in today’s Russia. The canvases of everyday objects such as cups and teapots atop a table have a horizon like quality to them. A slice of yellow cake has a charming calming simplicity. The work has an ethereal fleeting energy which lingers like music floating in a room.

Belyaev is inspired by the impressions he sees in nature and expresses his insight through a variety of organic shapes and muted earth tone colors. His motif of contours and figures as well as an inverted linear perspective creates an affinity with the traditions of iconic Russian painting. When the artist paints on canvas or fiberboard, he rubs paint into the surface, revealing the material’s grainy texture. He then outlines the drawing with a dry brush or a brush handle. The sgraffito technique he uses reveals the deep layer of each painting. The works are a celebration of silence.