Artistic Licence |
Kyiv is famous for its prolific artists. What's On introduces some of the more interesting figures in the city's art world Alexei Malikh created a sun. A small white, rather misty sun. And ever since then this sun has found a place for itself on his canvases. He draws the sun and then everything else: the whole of life itself going on below the sun. A line of events in life depicted as well as the atmosphere created make each painting unique. But the image of the sun remains an ever-present trademark. Everything else in the paintings reflects the painter's moods. Moods are not material and that is why anyone studying a Malikh painting is bound to see reflected in it something of his or her own emotional state. Still that sun remains a uniting feature for both the artist and the viewer. Alexei became an artist as a result of some complex forces within his family. He grew up in a family of 'military men', but both his older sisters 'deserted'for a career in the arts. The younger one became a musician and the eldest an artist. When Alexei turned 16 his father, a teacher in a military college, suggested Alexei enrol there and Alexei shrugged his shoulders and said: "Alright" Alexei's sisters were appalled and literally kidnapped him away from the fate in store for him. His oldest sister arrived post-haste from Moscow, fora 10 day stay, with the express purpose of teaching her brother to draw. The first thing she taught Alexei was how to sketch a jug. |