Mihail Aleksandrov

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Mihail Aleksandrov is one of the most successful artists to have left the former Soviet Union. He works primarily in oil, tempera and watercolor. Aleksandrov was born in 1949 in Vilnius, Lithuania and immigrated to the United States in 1980, settling in New York City. He has had many one-man shows in the States and has been collected in more than twenty countries worldwide. His paintings pulsate with a vibrant spiritual energy. He never forgets his Russian r oots, which shape the mystical framework of his paintings. His paintings also reflect his personal belief that faith is at the center of our existence. Aleksandrov's disdain for trendy art has taken him to the past for inspiration. He believes that art cannot be created out of a vacuum, but instead is the progression of a long heritage. Ancient icons, the Renaissance concept of art and beauty and the Russian Avante Garde movement influence his work. He merges geometric forms and the human body into symbolic configurations of squares, circles and triangles. He continually creates a perfect arrangement of figures in a rhythmic choreographed motion. Through his paintings, Aleksandrov desires to transcend reality and reach a higher spiritual realm. His works are held in the collections of the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art.
	About Mihail Aleksandrov … Mihail Aleksandrov belongs to that rare type of artist who is absolutely self sufficient. Artists such as he are independent of any prevailing trends or tendencies; their main urge is to create their own mythology, if not cosmogony. For them, the main action takes place on a sort of inner stage, the artist's universal world … … The fundamental elements of this artist's world are life, death, love, faith, creative work … … Themes such as beauty, perfection, spirituality and revelations play an integral part of his artistic conception ... … Aleksandrov's works could be called, to my mind, mysteries, because of their representativity, hierarchy and ritualistic quality … … The paintings of Aleksandrov are windows into a world of parables, all with spiritual meaning. As the plots of these allegories develop, we see the inevitable victory of good, with lessons that are always positive and life asserting … … Aleksandrov is excited by the picture of the world, which according to Aleksandrov, is a window into an integral universe. Each painting at all levels, from cosmogony to the smallest detail, is built by universal laws. It is a mold of the whole not of a fragment. His work has powerful potential for self-development, as both formative and spiritual powers interact within … … Aleksandrov's integral picture of the world assumes a certain teleology: a hierarchy of goals and values . There is a belief in a divine design present in his work—a penetrating moral theme with an aspect of almost tactile energy … … The inner tension of Aleksandrov's images gives them a unique spiritual meaning: soaring in space, real and metaphysical, somnambulistically self-absorbed, unprotected and fragile, they are ready for revelation. And this readiness is a sign of high Russian spiritual tradition … Dr. Alexander Borovsky Senior Curator, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg … Aleksandrov is a colorist … color is used to build emotional statements. That is why his work radiates its golden glow, a glow of which many viewers have said, "it seems to come from behind the canvas". He uses the warmer val ues in the spectrum, colors such as yellows, reds and golds, similar to those in the tradition of such artists as Rembrandt, Rubens and Van Gogh. His warm golds are also colors of the traditional icon form … … Historically, Aleksandrov stands as a lone figure. His poetic imagery does not fall into a fixed static category. The flowing lyrical forms, warm golden color changes and imaginary space in which his heroes act and react, are unique in the historical and contemporary art … Bernard Wagner … Aleksandrov's genius lies in his original manner of expression which emerges from his powerful imagination. Through his artistic creations he analyzes the spectrum of human emotion which allows the viewer to enter into his personal and unique artistic universe … Sundaram Tagore