Icons by Aleksandras Aleksejevas exhibited in St. David’s Cathedral in Wales
4 – 14 September, 2010. 40 bronze relief icons by the London based Lithuanian artist Aleksandras Aleksejevas will be exhibited at the St. David’s Cathedral in Wales. The opening of the exhibition on the 4th September will be part of the Baltic Day in St. David’s, along with the photo exhibition “The Baltic Way” and the concert by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.
Curator Jonathan Wiggin once said about Aleksandras Aleksejevas’ icons: “Using bronze relief, a technique that he has studied in depth, and that was common in mediaeval and renaissance religious and secular art, but that has since fallen into comparative disuse, Aleksejevas demonstrates a profound mastery of his medium, to produce works that are surprisingly innovative, while still remaining true to the traditional iconographic canon. Following the theory that has animated much of his earlier work, and especially that dealing with religious and archaic pagan themes, Aleksejevas reduces his forms to their essentials in order better to express their inherent power. In this he reflects exactly one of the pre-eminent tenets of orthodox iconography. The use of relief for his icons is, however, unusual, and recalls a very rare and special category of Byzantine sculpture that was mainly confined to Macedonia in the 9th to 13th Centuries, and which brings a third, “fleshly” dimension to the works which is absent in the flat topography of most orthodox image-making.”
Aleksandras Aleksejevas was born in 1963 and has exhibited worldwide. He was awarded an associate fellowship of the Royal British Society of Sculptors for his "record of distinction and high achievement within the discipline and art of sculpture". His works are in the collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, the Maria Tsvetaeva Museum, Moscow, the Anna Akhmatova State Museum, St.Petersburg, and the Florian Museum, Corabunary, Romania.
The exhibition has been initiated by the Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Wales Mr. Anthony Packer, the Baltic Day has been supported by the honorary consuls and embassies of the all three Baltic countries. The event has been organized by Myles Pepper and West Wales Art Centre.
The exhibition by Aleksandras Aleksejevas will be open until 14 September.
Opening of the exhibition – 4 September, 6pm., followed by the concert of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.
http://www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk/index.php?id=760
