As an explorer of the mysterious universe of oil painting, Jerusalem based abstract-surrealist artist Alexey Adonin, has dedicated over a decade to convey his vision of hidden otherworldly realms connected with a timeless source of inspiration. Adonin was born in Slutsk, Belarus, in 1973. He graduated in 1993 from the State Art College named after A. K. Glebov, Minsk, Belarus. In the same year, he immigrated to Israel. Since 2002, Adonin has exhibited locally and internationally. His works have also been acquired by notable private collections worldwide.
Self-taught or art school?
1989 – 1993 State Art College named after A. Glebov (Minsk, Belarus).
1982 – 1987 Children School of Arts (Slutsk, Belarus).
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
The Melancholy of Departure by Giorgio De Chirico
How would you describe your style?
My paintings are at the intersection of abstraction and surrealism. I stake on the limitless possibilities of our consciousness to penetrate distant and mysterious worlds in my work. I strive to create a unique atmosphere of admiration and respect for the world as a whole. At the same time, I am keeping the viewer’s right to witness their own imagination power, which essentially makes the viewer into explorer. I see in this as an opportunity of gaining intuitive freedom, a return to a spiritual source. My goal is to give to the mind a half-open door to a hidden universe beyond any clear boundaries and rules.
Can you tell us about your artistic process?
Everything happens as if by randomness. I can’t even know where the next idea will come from. I just want to create. It’s like hunger. I take the canvas, and I start working, boldly. The search process begins right here. It is one of the most beloved stages in which I experiment with colours and lines that necessary for the foundation on which something unique is developing. I always have been attracted to art because of its unpredictability. Its detachment from physical reality makes me curious. That’s why at the beginning, I always let things happen. Then, I take advantage of the human mind’s fantastic ability to find order in chaos—this ability lets me discover the details.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
As a studio, I use one of the most oversized rooms in my flat—it is well equipped with all the crucial tools I need for the creation process.
Is narrative important within your work?
Yes, but not the kind you find in realistic artworks. I’m not interested in banal copying or narration of reality. There is nothing in it for me. I try to avoid imposed patterns. I like to think of art as an enigma and want to keep it that way. I devote my work to those aspects of life to which somehow reflect my inner world. It tends toward mysticism. I offer something that reaches your inner self and gives you ultra-vision to wander in other worlds.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
Vincent van Gogh
Wassily Kandinsky
Kazimir Malevich
Pablo Picasso
Giorgio de Chirico
Francis Bacon
Salvador Dalí
Pavel Filonov
Max Ernst
Yves Tanguy
I admire those artists mainly because of their ability to stand out—create new things against dogmas.
What or who inspires your art?
I have always been inspired by my ability to recognize different states within myself and transform the most interesting of them onto canvas. I guess I like acting as a mediator between reality and the divine – observing, studying, and revising creation itself. I can use my sense of beauty to show important messages from under the “curtain.”
Do you have any studio rituals?
Not that I call rituals, but I do not need too much presence of someone nearby. I work alone. I think loneliness is my unique, conscious, and self-sufficient state of mind. Maybe also the right music? It has an essential role in immersion into the process.
What are you working on currently?
My creative search is carried out by the principle of a “journey – discovery,” and I never know what awaits me at the end of this voyage. However, I know how and when work requires a lot of inspirational power. The painting started as a theme relevant to some point in time, but it has become something else, like something that I couldn’t predict as it advances further. Right now, it is not clear even to me, so I can not tell.
Where can we buy your art?
https://www.saatchiart.com/adonin
https://www.artiosgallery.com/alexey-adonin
Or you can contact me directly via my website:
https://www.alexeyadoninart.com/
