Goals
My immediate goal is to get an affordable studio/show space big enough to do photo-shoots of my models, and to hold private viewings of my work. Right now I am working out of our garage that we remodeled into a studio, but it can't handle the large scale work I used to do. The long term goal - is to have a show space where I could show not only my work, but create a safe platform for other figurative artists that struggle to find a gallery because of their subject matter. This is going to be a retreat for the artists who are willing to take risks, and the art lovers who support them.
By subscribing you will help me move forward with this work, and hopefully bring about some positive change in the way we view life and ourselves.
Thanks in advance for your support and hope you will have fun joining me on this journey. Alexei
Censorship And Stereotypes
My first figurative show in 2004 - Naked Loneliness was closed down by the local officials of Barnaul, Russia - because of the penises in the paintings. Which would have been devastating, but it created much more exposure and reached a lot more people worldwide.
The shut down also inspired me to continue working with male nude subject matter, not because i am gay, but because of the stereotypes that surround naked human body. Male nudity in art and in today's culture in general is a taboo subject. Even the old masters nowadays get censored from time to time. Although we don't seem to have an issue with female nudity in movies, music videos and even prime time commercials. With no disrespect to our beautiful ladies, i took upon myself covering the underrepresented subject.
Another stereotype is the standards of the mainstream beauty. This is why my subjects are average Joes, older and meatier than the commercially promoted gym god type. At some point someone called my art "anti-glamorous"… It’s not like I am trying to scare you with my paintings of naturally aging men, if anything I am trying to show is the beauty I see in my models, being just the way they are. With that said, I don't want to sound like I am riding the popular "body positivity" trend ( although it makes me happy that it is happening ), but I did this way before it was cool and still staying true to it 20 years later.
