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Irina Andrushenko and Valentine Valshan
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We are very excited to have an exclusive exhibition of two prominent Moscow painters, husband and wife, Valentine Valshan and Irina Andrushenko. These artists began working in the Russian underground art scene in the late 1970's. Since the fall of the Soviet Union their works have been exhibited extensively throughout Europe. They have had occasional exhibitions in the United States, including New York's Atmosphere Gallery in 1995 and1997. During these U.S. exhibitions all of their works were sold, and many have found prominent places in such esteemed private collections as the estate of the Russian-American poet and writer Joseph Brodsky . Both Valshan's and Andrushenko's respective techniques are as distinct from each other as they are distinctive. Andrushenko has developed a technique within her oil paintings she calls 'structuralism'. Her figures are presented in strong relief through a play of texture and highlights within the layers of the paint. The result is an image that appears to be 'sculpted' out of paint, and transports the observer to a different visual dimension.
Valshan's technique revolves around the use of watercolors, lacquer, and based paper to re-enforce the subtleties of his composition. Valshan, in contrast to Andrushenko, achieves an incredibly smooth and serene surface. He uses this technique to enhance his intense, complicated, and often quasi-mystical portraits. Valshan, in his striking portraits, explores the cracks, crevasses and contours of the human soul.