Vladimir Kush
Vladimir Kush was born in 1965 in
Moscow Russia. By the age of seven, he began art school, and later on he was
conscripted into the Soviet Army to paint propaganda posters. After his
military service and graduation from the Institute of Fine Arts, Kush painted
and sold portraits on the streets on Moscow to make money for his family during
difficult times. In the late 1980s, Kush started to take part in exhibitions
around Europe from the Union of Artists. After much success with that, he moved
to Los Angeles where he worked on his exhibits there. Eventually, he moved to
Hawaii to exhibit his work there. He was discovered by a French dealer, who
organized an exhibition for him in Hong Kong. With all of its popularity, Kush
was even more successful. He opened his first gallery in 2001, called Kush Fine
Art and located in Lahaina, Hawaii. He currently has four gallery locations in
the United States and he wants to open up more globally.
Thomas Barbey
Thomas Barbey was born in
Connecticut in 1957 and grew up in Geneva, Switzerland across from the largest art
supply manufacturer. He began drawing at the age of 13. After 17 years in
Geneva where he designed band posters, he moved to Italy. In Milan, he worked
successfully for 15 years as a recording artist, lyricist, and fashion photographer. In 1995, he moved back to the United States.
He now resides in Las Vegas, and travels the world to take pictures. He
combines years worth of images into surrealist artwork, all in the black and
white style only. Barbey exhibits his artwork in galleries all over the world
as well as many private locations.
Vladimir Kush (painter)
African Sonata - Date Unknown
Description: This piece features
animals gathered at the watering hole. However, the elephants are extremely and
disproportionally enormous in comparision with the other wildlife. Their heads
have been replaced with large, golden tubas. In the foreground of the picture
is a gazelle with a harp for antlers. The cloudy blue sky shows music notes and
clefts and the tall grass and plants surrounding the gazelle are all wiry
trumpets and brass instruments. Every element in this image relates to music.
Anaylsis: The focal point of this
music-infused African savanna is definitely the large horn on the head of the prominent
elephant. It acts as an announcement of the piece – very large, shiny, and
golden. Surrounding that, everything is slightly more muted. The gazelle in the
musical instruments is less noticeably unusual because it is darker in that
section. Contrastly, the sky is very bright, so that one does not notice the
music notes blended into the clouds at first.
Interpretation: This particular
piece is very optimistic and uplifting in the way it uses music and instruments
to signify the beauty of life. I believe that the horn in appropriately a symbol
for the elephant’s leadership and powerful voice in its habitat. Likewise, the
harp accompanying the gazelle depicts its grace and elegance. The music notes
in the sky symbolize a flowing rhythm, soft and subtle just as they are
painted. The arrays of long instruments, making up the grassy area, relate
their sounds to the daily tunes of the African savanna. African Sonata is
exactly its title; a blend of music representing the sounds of life and the
beauty of those voices to be heard.
Judgement: I honestly love this
painting just as much as many of Kush’s other works because of the spirited
vibe it gives off. The horn-elephant drew me in and then as I looked further
into the image, I realized how well the entire theme flowed throughout the
piece. It holds a lot of variation, yet it all works together to show the
beauty of music and voice, and for that, I believe it is very successful.
Thomas Barbey (photographer)
Piano Peace - Date Unknown
Description: In this black and
white image, two zebras, with their necks resting on each others, are manipulated
so that their stripes transform into piano keys below them. A set of hands play
the piano at the bottom. In the background is a gray, cloudy sky, but there is
also sunlight shining in.
Analysis: The fact that this image
is in black and white enhances its effect of zebras morphed into piano keys,
because there are no other colors to distract from the focus. It also
exemplifies the style of the artist, who only creates black and white images.
The sunlight comes from the right side of the picture, leading in towards the
darker left side. Everything about the image is very clearly focused and sharp,
so that even the transformation from stripes to keys looks extremely seamless
and appropriate.
Interpretation: I believe Piano
Peace is simply about depicting the peace and grace that these calm zebras
portray. They appear very content in their rested positions. Also, the sky is
similar to one you would look at on a nice, warm weathered day, which further
conveys the peaceful theme. Most importantly, the piano ties together the peace
of the surrealistic image because piano music is typically quite relaxed and
comforting. The hands at the keys are not stressed; instead they lay gently
over the keys. This piece truly portrays a sense of peace and harmony found in
nature and music.
Judgement: This picture is
definitely successful in achieving a sense of serenity and smoothness through
its blend of different, peaceful images. Personally, the piano has always fascinated
me and had a calming effect on me so when combined with the resting zebras and
the day lit sky, it is especially appealing to look at. At first, one is drawn
to the zebras, but then it is very interesting to see their stripes turn into
piano keys as if they belong together.
Comparison and Contrast:
Both Vladimir Kush and Thomas
Barbey are contemporary surrealists. While Vladimir Kush focuses his paintings
on variations of things in nature, Thomas Barbey uses his vast collection of black
and white photographs to develop a wider spectrum of subjects. Much of the
emotion that comes from Kush’s artwork is in the colors he uses, whereas Barbey
relies on the subject matter only. In these particular pieces, however, both
artists convey the beauty of music in relation to nature. They blend wildlife
into musical instruments to convey the voice and rhythm of living things. Kush’s
picture illustrates a more loud, lively view of celebrating life while Barbey’s
picture is much more settled down and serene in its depiction of life’s sweet
song.
