Selected work by Alexander Gorenstein at Grant Gallery

Sunday, 01 October 2006 16:16

New York City - Alexander Gorenstein was born in Odessa in 1952.  He studied at the Leningrad Academy of Theater, Cinematography and Music and graduated in stage design.  Among his productions were: “Golden Cock” (Rimsky Korsakov), “Don Pasquale”(Doniccetti), “Harlequin”(Buzonni), “Richard III” (Shakespeare), “A Month in the Village”(Tourgenev), “Crime and Punishment” (Dostoevsky), and “The Cherry Orchid” (Chekhov).  He exhibited his paintings in Russia, Israel and Europe. The Grant Gallery is pleased to announce this solo show in New York.

The most successful art is perhaps when an artist’s work communicates to a very large audience.  Alexander Gorenstein has accomplished this in his works.  And as provocative as his works are, there is no sense of pretension or intellectual exclusivity to be found here.  For this exhibition Gorenstein selected paintings witch are “comfortable,” uniquely palatable, and deeply more meaningful form of surrealism in compositions.  They are by no means rationalistic, but speak to the viewer more concretely than predecessors of the same style.  They are thought-provoking and mesmerizing.  They evoke a deep sense of mystery, mystique and enigma - not in a perturbing sense - but rather in a kind of veneration that inspires wonder and awe.

Gorenstein’s choice of imagery and symbols is intelligent and tasteful. Several common elements within his works stand out in their philosophical and archetypal implications, as well as their aesthetic rendering: An egg - symbolic of life and fertility. A metronome - symbolic of both the keeping of time as well as eternity.  A variety of shells - perhaps with which to listen and ponder the vastness and grandeur of the ocean.  Iconic architecture of Greek, Roman, Hellenistic, and Middle-Eastern styles furthers a sense of transcendence, universality, and mythology.  Even in his photo-realistic still life works, or his tributary portraits of Rembrandt and Picasso, there is always a hint of profound mystique that is the signature of Alexander Gorenstein’s work.