Ukrainian ŽmigrŽ Shimon Okshteyn's painstakingly detailed pencil drawings, which depict everyday objects such as this clock, will be on display at the School of Art's Des Lee Gallery downtown from Nov. 9-Jan. 2.
November 2, 2001
Shimon Okshteyn takes pictures. No, wait. Shimon Okshteyn makes drawings, but you'll forgive the mistake: Shimon Okshteyn makes large, painstakingly detailed pencil drawings of everyday objects --pins, clocks, hats, shoes --whose rich tones and straightforward presentation rival the illusionism of photography.
Starting this month, the School of Art is presenting Okshteyn's striking creations (which often top 6 feet in height) at the Des Lee Gallery downtown. The exhibition is free and open to the public. A reception for the artist will be held from 5:30- 9 p.m. Nov. 9, and the show remains on view through Jan. 2.
Ukrainian ŽmigrŽ Shimon Okshteyn's painstakingly detailed pencil drawings, which depict everyday objects such as this clock, will be on display at the School of Art's Des Lee Gallery downtown from Nov. 9-Jan. 2. |
Born in 1951 in Chernovtsky, Ukraine, Okshteyn entered the prestigious Odessa Art Institute at age 19. In the years after graduation, he displayed his work in numerous group and one-person exhibitions but by 1979, facing rife anti-Semitism and KGB crackdowns that accompanied the beginnings of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, Okshteyn, along with his wife, son and wife's parents, elected to emigrate. (Before leaving the Soviet Union, Okshteyn was forced by the state to purchase his own paintings. He could afford to bring some 50 works, mostly small canvases.)
The family first arrived in Rome and, while awaiting permission to continue to the United States, Okshteyn earned money drawing portraits on the sidewalks. In 1980, they settled in Springfield, Mass., and later moved to New York, where the artist achieved some renown for his sleek, electrically colored figure studies, which often were editioned as fine art seriographs.
In recent years, however, Okshteyn has developed a less flashy, more idiosyncratic style, which recalls the technical virtuosity of Soviet-sanctioned Socialist Realism while rejecting its heroic posturing. Working in pencil on canvas, Okshteyn renders obsessively detailed portraits of what might be called consumer relics --a juice-maker, an old-fashioned alarm clock, a 1970s platform shoe, an antique wooden suitcase. On occasion, he also recreates these objects --a thimble, a shoe last --as colossal sculptures whose rough-hewn surfaces stand in contrast to the drawings' polish.
Okshteyn's work has been featured in a score of one-person shows in New York, London, Moscow, France, Switzerland and Israel. In 1997, he was awarded first prize at the Biennale Internationale Dell'Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy.
Gallery hours are 4-7 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays, 1-4 p.m. Sundays and by appointment. The Des Lee Gallery is located in the University Lofts building, 1627 Washington Ave. For more information, call 621-8735.
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