Exhibition of December 2018

                                                                                         APPROACH

          Each person has his own meaning, his own format of desire, expression, openness. I have know Andrey Nikolenko for thirty years. He carefully and obstinately searched for his language of self-expression. Perfectly starting while studying at Leningrad Vera Mukhina Higher School of Art and Design to paint biting and expressive, like N. Feshin, especially in the portraits of fellow students, he deviates from the traditional realistic language of the image in the analysis of the search for a creative method. He looks for his individual style and gradually goes to him. Now the main concepts - decorative, convention, expression.

           Andrey Nikolenko works in series. Certain topics capture him: Music, Architecture, Cosmos, Planets, Karelia — the latest source of inspiration for the author.

           In various series, architecture and musical instruments are often present. It is appropriate to recall the classic comparison: “architecture is music frozen in stone”. Bursts, rhythms, gamuts of forms on repetitions, play of structures, an absolutely futuristic approach to the interpretation of a form. Composite constructions are free, full of subject, decorative color game. Often this is some kind of phantasmagoria. They have a lot of enthusiasm, the beauty of abstract decorative techniques. Color as Light fills canvases, sheets. A lot of gold, a lot of light. Amazing positive images.

          Speaking of the artist, I would like to note who the artist serves, what image he brings to the world where his work is purposefully. A. Nikolenko resists the process of destruction. His works are amazingly emotional. They are filled with the power of the joy of life, the sparkling light of grace. The author is not afraid of active saturated color, works in the spot, in the plane. The artist enjoys playing with formal techniques, combines graphics with painting.

          His latest episode Karelia is good. The created image “Ark with birds” is unique. How many anxieties and philosophies are in it! Where do these elegant birds from the monastery of the Russian Ark fly? How defenselessly lonely and at the same time fabulously left is the Ark under the cover of the starry sky ... The textures painted on the boards in this series sound like the authenticity of feelings and events.

          Since the days of youth, finding the tops of the craft, A. Nikolenko has come a long way, has grown into a mature artist. He has his own handwriting, his own stylistics, his own meaningful essence. As a result, it can be noted that the image surface, luminosity, constructiveness and positivity of the image are important for him. He is a creator, not a destroyer, and in fact in the semantic space of Art — this is the most important thing.

Art historian Elena Vlasova