Surrealist Artists

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.