Red and Black: Solo Show of Works by the Honored Artist of Russia Yury Kalyuta

The Russian Academy of Arts and Tsereteli Art Gallery present a solo show of almost one hundred paintings and graphic works by the noted St. Petersburg painter, Honored Artist of Russia Yury Kalyuta. His creative career started in 1989 when he graduated from I. Repin St. Petersburg State Academy Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and his diploma work “The City of Peter the Great” – stained glass for “St. Petersburg” hotel was on display at the All-Russian exhibition of works by graduates of art institutions.

Since the 1990s, Yury Kalyuta has been a frequent exhibitor in Russia and other countries. His recent solo shows were held in the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts (St. Petersburg, 2007) and the Russian State Museum (St. Petersburg, 2012).

In 2005 Yury Kalyuta was awarded the Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Arts. His works are in museum and private collections in Russia, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, China and the United States. He is also involved in the teaching activity at I. Repin St. Petersburg State Academy Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

Yury Kalyuta has created his own original, recognizable manner of painting based on his temperament combined with a deliberate limitation of color palette. His adherence to contrast combinations with emphasis on the black and red gives his canvases a special expression and emotion.

On show in Tsereteli Art Gallery are the artist’s landscapes, still lives and genre compositions. Of major interest are his portraits, lyrical or full of hidden drama that attract the viewer by his keen insight into the character, perfect portrayal of mood and polysemanticism of the content. A painting for Yury Kalyuta is a scene of enthralling performance. The painter is interested in the magic of transformation helping us to travel through time. His characters are attributed images unusual for today and sometimes exotic, that are consonant with Yury Kalyuta’s world-view. Names of his canvases speak for themselves: ‘Cleopatra”, “Geisha”, “Duel”, “Haircut in a Red Studio”, “Self portrait with Wife (Harlequin and Pierrot), etc.

His favorite black color serves as a uniting element for color spots in his paintings, bright and rich and gives them an integrity and nobleness. In his “color thinking” Kalyuta bases on the heritage of classical European colorism and traditions of monumental and decorative art. In his graphic works Yury Kalyuta often uses sanguine that makes his portraits especially natural and charming.






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