'Reflection #1', 2007
graphite and charcoal on canvas with mixed media
80"x 110"
'Reflection #4', 2007
graphite and charcoal on canvas with mixed media
80" x 80" x 56"
'Shimon Okshteyn: Dialogue with Objects' brings together work produced by the New York-based artist over the past 25 years since his emigration from the former Soviet Union. It includes a range of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and a selection of newer pieces that are among Okshteyn's most ambitious to date. This exhibition is not an attempt to construct a historical narrative but rather an introduction to Okshteyn's work aimed at a general audience and a new generation of Russians who grew up in the post-perestroika era.
A native of Ukraine, Shimon Okshteyn was regarded as one of the most promising artists of his generation. He graduated from the renowned Odessa School of Art and emigrated to the US in 1979. Since the early 1980s, Okshteyn has created key works that oscillate between paintings, drawings, and sculpture. Finding inspiration in his new environment and culture, Okshteyn succeeded in establishing a strong presence on the contemporary American art scene. His works have been widely exhibited in the US and are in the permanent collections of major museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Brooklyn Museum. This is his first major exhibition in Russia.
Okshteyn's art defies an easy classification. He works primarily within representational modes, commenting on consumerism, sexuality and cultural memory. In his most recent work the commentary is further aided by utilizing elements of cultural ephemera and images appropriated from art history. By reproducing certain visual elements and by re-inventing others, the work included in this exhibition demonstrates Okshteyn's involvement with a broad range of interests and a personal and dynamic engagement with a wide social reality.
In conjunction with this exhibition, a 336-page, hardcover book 'Shimon Okshteyn.: Dialogue with Objects' is published by Palace Editions with support from The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia and The Kolodzei Art Foundation, USA. It includes an introduction by Evgenia Petrova and essays by Charlotta Kotik, Donald Kuspit, José Pierre, Natalia Kolodzei, and Jenifer Borum.
Shimon Okshteyn is represented by Stefan Stux Gallery, 530 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10001.
Shimon Okshteyn: Dialogue with Objects
Until 3 September 2007
The State Russian Museum
Marble Palace
Millionnaya str., 5/1
St Petersburg
www.okshteyn.com
www.KolodzeiArt.org
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