press release
alex stolyarov
on where I am from and
small paintings about love
june 1 – july 26, 2024
opening reception: sat, june 1, 12-6pm
The Elizabeth Harris Gallery is pleased to announce on where I am from and small paintings about love, an exhibition of new small paintings by Alex Stolyarov. This will be the artist’s sixth exhibition with the gallery. There is an opening reception for the artist on Saturday, June 1th, from 12 – 6 pm.
The artist writes: To me, painting is a necessity, a need. I need to find form to invisible inner states. These states are the true nature of human existence. The depths of our inner conditions, no matter how individual and personal they are, often are common timeless human experiences. No matter where we are from, no matter when we were born, we do go through similar experiences in life - childhood, relationship with our parents, discovering the world around us and learning about its ways, adolescence, first love, the dreams of becoming, adulthood, maturity, loss, old age... These experiences are something that unites all of us as human beings. Things that are felt, things that are absorbed by our inner self, the conditions so personal, yet commonplace, are the Theme of my works.
But life is full of contradictions and paradoxes. Things that happen seemingly beyond our control pull us into whirlpool of history in the process of making. As I wanted to talk about timeless universal human experience, the war in Ukraine had started. The city of my youth, Kharkiv, was heavily damaged, some parts virtually destroyed. The pain of it, the anxiety... I can't stop thinking about it. There was something I had to talk about, something that I know personally, the feeling of it, the land, the history, the subconscious, the beauty and horror, the accumulation of time, the fertile soil, yet, you put a stick into it - the blood will come out. The personal inner space. As I look closer, what is there? It's called Love. And that's Universal human experience ...
Alex Stolyarov was born in former Soviet Union and raised in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine. At the age of 23 he immigrated with his family to the United States and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He lives and works in Queens NY.
The Gallery is located at 529 West 20th Street, 6th floor, and is open Tuesday through Saturday 12 – 6 pm. The artist will be present for an opening reception on Saturday, June 1st, from 12-6 pm. In July the gallery will be open summer hours that are Tuesday through Friday 12 – 6 pm.
for further information contact Miles Manning at 212.463.9666.