Only love and sincerity can keep us together.
Darya Semenova
The exhibition of the works of the group “The Art of Inspiration” which was held in December of last year at the United Nations building in New York was a landmark in the creative experiment of artists and photographers from two countries – Russia and the United States. This, the twelfth exhibition since the group was founded, now includes 65 works of art; paintings, graphics and art photography. Despite the variety of artistic directions, themes, genres and techniques, the exhibition leaves one with the impression of a radiant unity in its burst of self expression. The task of this unique union of creative people is to maximally expose the artistic potential of the group as a joint effort involving the dialog, or “synthesis” between the two forms of art, while at the same time preserving the individuality of each member of the group. The idea belongs to the organizer, inspiration and member of this group Vladimir Andreyev. Thanks to his indefatigable organizational talents, the path of the “art of Inspiration” exhibits has traveled through cities great and small in Russia, each one somehow tied to the fate of Vladimir, and the exhibition has now emerged onto the international arena.
As a participant in his own project, Vladimir Andreyev has entered a series of photographs, distinguished by a very high level of quality, approaching and matching that of fine painting, but which belong to a newly coined genre – art photography.
The unique creative approach of this photographic artist is the interpretation of the world through the delicate interplay between the aesthetic and the philosophical. His work, “The Rose” encompasses all that dominates his creativity; from wide landscapes, to greatly enlarged individual details. This allows for a multilayered reading of his chosen subject. The rose, emblematic of absolute beauty, in Vladimir’s interpretation acquires a symbolic resonance. One senses, here, an intriguing ambiguity. What is it? A mystery, the beginning of beginnings, a perpetual labyrinth? With his masterful juxtaposition of the familiar and recognizable with the unknown, the author invites us to read his subject as a symbol of beauty, and as the never-ending riddle of creation.
All of his works exhibit a quality of wide-open and quiet contemplation of the infinite, a panoramic vision. The individual fragments of this vision, individual photographs, as, for example the flaming “autumn Leaves”, or the lyrical, yet totally controlled “Green Landscape”, or the “Winter Landscape” rendered with an almost monochromatic palette where the gradations of gray, slightly tinted with rose which builds a composition of sharply etched planes. Each work of Vladimir Andreyev – his strict, calculated compositions embody in their depths and subtexts, passionate emotions. His work “cathedral” demands close attention for the grandness of its theme appealing to the understanding of reality through global categories. The work contains a greatness of image, and a delicacy of symbolism; The light, pouring in from the windows of the cathedral may be a flash of eternal love, or wisdom, The picture forces one to expand the horizons of his vision, and look at the world form a higher, spiritual point of view. The epic and philosophical approach to his chosen themes does not preclude attention to detail. Often an obscure theme is emphasized by the photographer through the enlargement of a detail in the foreground, or perhaps the author underscore the beauty of a fragment taken by itself without violating, thereby, the unity of the image as a whole. The creative method of Vladimir Andreyev is characterized by the ability to create an interesting and extraordinary compositional image, to find an unusual point of view, and to harmoniously tie it all together. The passionless objectivity of a camera’s lens is equivalent to the false “objectivity” of a photographer which impoverishes and emasculates his images…But when, behind each image, stands the face if its creator, his feelings, his soul, his unique interpretation of the visual as a reaction to his environment, the we see what is most valuable; what distinguishes a true artist.
In this way as the organizer and director of the group, Vladimir is also an active and creative member of the group; full of new ideas, he inspires all with his searches. It is not an accident that the group’s name may also be translated as “The Art to Inspire”, as pointed out by one of the participants, the student and follower of Vladimir, Eugene Lukianov. The wonderful thing about Vladimir’s mission is that he has introduced many interesting people to each other, enabling them to learn form one another and to influence and inspire one another towards new creative discoveries. Turning to the recent letter to his friends and colleagues, Vladimir summed it up with these words “Only love and sincerity in our relationship to one another can keep us together. And the more we exhibit these radiant feelings, the richer we become, spiritually”.