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Feature
article published in American Artist Magazine, May 2009
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HERE
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Watercolor Exhibition Slated at the Butler Institute of American Art
by Clyde Singer
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A truly amazing show of watercolors by Gregory Strachov will test the imagination of the beholder during its run through January 24th. at the Butler Institute of American Art. The first impression is that the artist knows precisely what he has to do in his own personalized way and also what not to do. There is no indication of wishy-washy fumbling that can occur when painting in the elusive medium of watercolor. His endless range of grays might die in the hands of a less competent artist, but Strachov safely manipulates the medium in extracting all possibilities from white to black on heavy grained paper.
The tonal brilliance of these 19 papers centers on a definitive completion of dream-like sequences, or even nightmarish subjects, that add another chapter to the endless procession of surrealist art. In brief, the composing of unrelated and often macabre subject matter is said to be a probing of the subconscious. The viewer can take it from there.
It's not a happy show in a superficial sense as one becomes captive of Strachov's compelling inner feelings. Titles are no help so the viewer is on his own. To get away from this confinement, take a good look at the most beautiful butterfly signifying freedom you'll ever see in paint of paper. "The Valley of the Shadow and Son," dated 1987, is as pertinent to all time as Picasso's "Dove of Piece."
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A Place in
Life
Watercolor
© Gregory Strachov
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Strachov's favorite subjects seem to be timeless pet rocks worn smooth over the centuries. Especially attractive is "Manhattan," a flock of gulls cavorting on a rocky shore. His mastery of the rock is profusely in evidence (he even exhibits a couple of the real thing) and seem as symbols of no beginning and no ending. Stone plays an important role in most of his pictures.
Deviating, an eerie stairway, "The Second Level," remains threatening despite the emptiness and the exceptionally well-painted blank walls. "Black Hills," a battered turquoise car alongside a jackass on a lonely desert, has a dead raven falling from the sky.
Reminiscent of Hemingway's "Old Man of the
Sea," Strachov's "Sixty Years and On" also has an unintentional kinship
to a barren New England interior as painted by Andrew Wyeth.
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Dried Bones from primeval places further signify Strachov's delving into death and the fantastic. No one ever said surrealism is easy for the viewer.
There are pictorial statements of horror regarding the Holocaust. The artist has a message, and that's what Strachov is all about. He was born of Russian heritage in Caracas Venezuela, in 1950. He arrived in the U.S. in 1956 and pursued a well rounded education including art. Essays in the catalogue tell more about the artist and his work and may be obtained in the museum shop. Strachov names the exhibit the "Tenth Symphony" and explains why in the catalog artist's statement.
The World of Art, by Clyde Singer as printed in the Vindicator in review of Strachov's One man show at the Butler Institute of American Art during 1988
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Expose'
Magazine
No.3 Sept. 1995, by Carleen Thom
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Gregory Strachov is a self-described "educated
unemployable" who also happens to be fluent in English, Russian and Universal---as in Universal language. In this
day and age of new age, perhaps the latter category sounds a mite trite, but Strachov's watercolors are
anything but.
Strachov's
latest trove of work includes a subject in the category
of silent but
strong rocks. The sheer irony is the extent to which these immovable objects will move you. But if your
to do is interminable and you are permanently on a schedule, you might walk right by a Strachov rock and end up where you started: sleepwalking and mired in the banal. That's because Strachov's stones are like the mysterious inhabitants of a neighboring country--they are once foreign and familiar. As Strachov puts it,
"these rocks are millions of years old. They are archetypal, as though they have ancient secrets to tell." And oddly enough, they seem to impart a kind of intelligence. Perhaps this is due to Strachov's sense of light. The rocks are luminous in an understated way, as though lit from within. |
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The
valley of the Shadow and Son
© 1987 Original watercolor 40" x 29"
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Strachov encountered his subjects in Nova Scotia on a camping trip. He says, "its a place where I really enjoyed how I felt." I suspect the key to finding magic in a rock has something to do with recognizing in them yet another vehicle for communicating the language of universality. Anyone who has been truly compelled by a work of art understands this language because it transcends race, religion, region and all other factors which differentiate humans. Strachov agrees. "People who purchase my art do so either because they speak the same language or because they are learning to speak it." So what's the lesson? Simply put, Strachov's rocks are not just rocks, they're rocks with soul.
This leads me to my next contention, that artists are often accidental teachers. I say "accidental" only because work like Strachov's never feels contrived. " Painting is not a job," he says. "Its a way of being---like having a conversation with ideas continuously flowing within myself." But the next time you face off with a boulder, you might find that your perception of it is inescapably altered. Grainy textures that once appeared gray and brown might now leap out at you in taunting shades of violet or henna. You might even find yourself in the street quizzically studying asphalt before you realize that one of Strachov's images has crept its way into your left brain.
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NOUMENON
©
1995Original watercolor
40" x 28"
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Strachov, a self taught artist, confides that he was formerly a teacher of hard sciences---chemistry and biology. However, this fact doesn't surprise me due to the level of discipline and attention to detail which is obvious in his artwork. Nor does
this surprise me when he starts telling tales out of
school. Like the time he met his wife. She was visiting from Vienna for three weeks----a pretty tight window of opportunity---when he spotted her at a dinner party. He proposed the next day, handing her the key to his house. He told her "if you use it you will never leave." He also promised her that she will never cry, and when I asked her to confirm her lack of regret ten years later,
she said without hesitation, "I am very happy".
And like the time he bought his house. He was visually struck by an old home on the
corner, so he stopped for lunch
and wrote
a poem commemorating his intense feeling for the
property. |
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For Sale Sign. Strachov had just sold thousands of dollars of paintings while at a museum and he made the offer right there.
And like the time he was camping alone in the wilderness and ran into a wolf. The wolf sniffed and showed some fang, but Strachov was non-plussed and improvised in his usual way. He grabbed a piece of raw meat from his gear and bit off a chunk, chewing and growling while the wolf warily watched. Strachov spat the meat on the ground before the leery wolf, who came forward, sniffed the meat and then came within inches of Strachov's face. Strachov sniffed back and the wolf retreated with Strachov's offering of the meat---case closed.
You may be raising an eyebrow but Strachov is believable for two reasons. First, both his demeanor and his paintings are honest and smart. Second, a surprising number of important coincidences seem to happen to highly aware people. And Strachov is one of those people.
If it seems like Strachov's windows of opportunity are small, but the gain is great, it's because he always has an ear to the ground. "Living in the moment" may be a tired old phrase, but it shows how the process of
painting is not merely a metaphor for Strachov's life, but rather a method of inquiry. "Art is a sociogram," he says, which may also be a way of saying that in life, as in art, there are often more questions than answers.
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