ANDREI PETROV reviewed in the Washington Post

In the Galleries: ‘Syria: Sacred Spaces. Ancient Prayers,’ ‘Sedition of Sound,’ ‘Pure’

By Mark Jenkins, Published: April 18

 

Andrei Petrov, Redemption Song, 48″x30″, oil on canvas

 

Andrei Petrov

Like the mid-20th-century abstract expressionists, Andrei Petrov attempts a pictorial equivalent of music. But where the usual preference was jazz, Petrov’s “Sedition of Sound” was inspired by Delta blues and 1960s protest songs. The New York painter writes that his show, at Morton Fine Art, reflects “the shifting moods and sentiments captured in those recordings.”

The colors and textures in Petrov’s paintings shift, although usually over a steady visual beat. Typically, his pictures emphasize a vertical pattern, something like a wood’s grain. Over that matrix, the artist adds splatters, rough circles, contrapuntal gestures and areas that simulate tears in the canvas. These may represent another of Petrov’s themes, “the distortion, incompleteness and rare moments of clarity in the shadows of memory.”

The artist employs both addition and subtraction. He builds up layers of oil paint over pencil and charcoal drawings, and ink and acrylic washes, yet later rubs and scrapes pigment from the surface. Most of his pictures feature a wide array of hot hues, often in gushes or glimmers than suggest lava or sunlight. Some of the show’s most striking compositions are more limited in color, whether to black, white or gray or the blue, white and orange of the vast “Theoretical Geography.” Whatever it represents, subtraction serves Petrov well.

Sedition of Sound: New Paintings by Andrei Petrov On view through April 22 at Morton Fine Art, 1781 Florida Ave. NW; 202-628-2787; www.mortonfineart.com.

Andrei Petrov, Piece of My Heart, 24″x47″, oil on canvas

GA GARDNER & ANDREI PETROV’s show “Gallery Opening of the Week” in Washington Post

The Washington Post, Friday, March 8, 2013

The “Fragmentation & Integration” exhibition at Morton Fine Art will feature work from GA Gardner and Andrei Petrov, including the latter’s oil painting “Moroccan Field Trip.”

GALLERY OPENING OF THE WEEK

Formal considerations – how a work of art is put together – are front and center in “Fragmentation & Integration,” a two-person exhibition opening Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Morton Fine Art. The show features the abstractions of G.A. Gardner and Andrei Petrov, two artists whose manipulations of surface, pattern and scale explore the tension between coming together and falling apart.

But form also can convey a deeper meaning, as in the case of Gardner’s organic images, which the artist says are about the theme of memory and forgetting.

-Michael O’Sullivan
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Through April 2 at 1781 Florida Ave. NW (Metro: U Street).
202-628-2787
http://www.mortonfineart.com. Free.

Please join us for JULIA FERNANDEZ POL’s opening of “Deception” this Friday 6-8pm.

CHOICHUN LEUNG Reviewed in DC LIFE MAGAZINE

“MFA ‘Unveils’ New Artwork”

by Jessica Farley

March 22, 2012

Photo credit: Jessica Farley

March 16th marked the launch of a new solo exhibition at Morton Fine Art Gallery, located on Florida Ave NW in DC. “Veils and Transparencies” by Choichun Lueng is a must-see for all of DC’s art aficionados!

This past Friday, March 16^th, the cheese and crackers were out, the wine was chilled, and the latest artwork from contemporary painter Choichun Leung were on display in a new exhibit- “Veils and Transparencies” – featured at DC’s own Morton Fine Art.

A Glimpse at “Veils and Transparencies”

And, as the attendees of the exhibit launch would surely concur with, Leung’s work was nothing short of a striking visual experience.

Owner and chief curator at Morton Fine Art, Amy Morton, was busy days in advance preparing for the exhibit launch, by  “[doing] outreach to Choichun’s collectors, press and art enthusiasts.”  Leung, who is on Morton’s roster of regularly displayed artists, first worked with MFA and Morton in conjunction with *a pop-up project’s exhibition “Ritual: Form, Script, Gesture” in Bethesda in 2010, and then again in March of 2011 with a solo exhibition entitled “The Memory of Water.”

Described by Morton as “rhythmic, subtle [and] yet extremely rich in coloration and texture- timeless, atmospheric and deeply personal,” “Veils and Transparencies” left attendees of the exhibition opening in awe of Leung’s undeniable gifts as an artist and visual communicator. A departure from Leung’s signature “scripting” past works the paintings on display full of raw emotion and energy despite the lack of literal wording.

In fact, Leung describes her process as “purely emotional…governed by the materials, colors, and energies of the piece.” This was all too apparent at the “Veils and Transparencies” launch; Leung’s emotions were practically palpable as her pieces decorated the walls of MFA.

“Veils and Transparencies will be on display at MFA until April 11^th. As for what MFA has planned for the rest of the spring season, Morton described the gallery as being “very busy!” with two more solo exhibitions and one large group exhibitions.

If Choichun Leung’s “Veils and Transparencies” was any indication, MFA’s upcoming displays are a definite must-see!

Click here to see upcoming events being held at MFA!