The Russians Are Coming – to Mishin Fine Arts

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri Krasov


A part of being Russian is tackling big ideas, contemplating grandiose events, and thinking in philosophical categories on a daily basis. You can’t just rock-hunt on an ocean beach or gaze at a river flow without simultaneously embarking on some kind of a spiritual quest.
Characteristically, a number of themes in “Artur Vasilevich: River of Life” exhibition opened yesterday at Mishin Fine Arts gallery in San Francisco refer to good vs. evil, callings and prayers, expectations and beginnings, sinning, and redemption. Born in Belarus and now residing in Ohio, the artist, who specializes in murals, mosaics, stained glass and other monumental art forms, came to the opening to talk about his oil paintings presented by the gallerist Larisa Mishina (a female form of a Russian surname Mishin). “I try to use methods from the 19th century art, and treatments from the 20th century art to create my works for the 21st century,” said Vasilevich, Ph.D., classically trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Minsk (former USSR) about his technical execution. “I create an academic painting and then purposely ‘distort’ it to reach the effect I need.” The majority of his figurative works are layered with expressionist brushstrokes, foam-like splashes, and opaque color spots to emphasize the underlying mood, raw emotion, or… a grand idea.

The artist’s larger-scale paintings, positioned close to the entrance to the well-lit and overall neatly organized gallery space, include “A Man,” intensely looking upward while dry branches with long thorns hang over his head, and “A Calling,” with a prophet-like figure with his beard directed toward the sky, and towering over a body of water that reflects pink, crimson and golden sunset clouds.
Three sculptures by Slava Yasnopolsky, originally from Kiev, Ukraine, and now residing in Vallejo, CA, are presented alongside Vasilevich’s paintings. Two plaster casts for limited-edition bronzes, “Meditation” and “Prayer” are supplemented by Yasnopolsky’s Matisse-like early work on the topic of labor, depicting three men carrying a pane of glass crisscrossed with a blood-red brushstroke.
Mishin Fine Arts displays mostly Russian artists who emerged in the early 1990s in time of the collapse of the Soviet Union and germination of new ideas in life and in art. Many painters and sculptors associated with the gallery are recognized by museums, honored with prestigious awards, and engaged with important commissions. For more information, visit mishingallery.com. The current show runs through May 13. The upcoming show on May 15 – Maria Tregubenko: Persona qua Persona. Mishin Fine Arts is located at 445 A Sutter St., San Francisco. 415-391-6100.