Even in a pandemic, art in all its forms helps us cope with tough times and makes us think about what we have to look forward to.
Such is the case with Post Soviet 13, a visual art exhibit at The Box Gallery that recently opened to the public. It exhibits the works of Nicolas Ouporov, Pavel Ouporov, Suzanne Scherer, and Oleg Neishtadt. Collectively, they come from different ages, styles, and mediums, but share a theme in the realm of creativity.
Pavel Ouporov and Suzanne Scherer are the parents of a prodigy student of the arts, Nicolas Ouporov. Oleg Neishtadt is an internationally acclaimed painter and wordsmith. They all present works in an exhibition that focuses on their expressions of visual arts. They explore the relationship between the four creatives, the influence of family, and their unique and magnificent intertwined and individual careers.
Suzanne Scherer, who graduated from Florida State University, and has an MFA from Brooklyn College, is the first American visual artist accepted into the Russian Academy of Arts during the Soviet period. Pavel Ouporov studied at the renowned Moscow Surikov State Academy Art Institute—one of Russia’s two institutions of higher arts education and part of the Russian Academy of Arts established in 1757 by Peter the Great. Their son, Nicolas Ouporov, studied at our local Bak Middle School of the Arts. He has a long history in the fields of performing arts and visual arts, working with institutions such as the Boston Ballet and Young Arts Foundation. He believes that aspects of the arts are present in all fields and he hopes to discover these intersections and push towards a more authentic, accessible world.
A video at the gallery shows a live performance by Nicolas Ouporov during the exhibition opening night. Without a doubt, an exceptional emerging artist.
“The primary reason I was excited about doing this show is that this gallery has always tried to encourage student participation and student works,” says Rolando Chang Barrero, curator of the ‘PS13: Post Soviet’ exhibit. “We’d had a number of different exhibitions, but with Nicolas, I felt very drawn to give him this opportunity because I want to establish a trend so when our students graduate from Bak or Dreyfoos, they can feel they have a way back to where they were educated to show their art in galleries at the caliber their work warrants. As a mecca for world culture, West Palm Beach has steadily continued to make its mark, and there needs to be a place where all of our students can come back and be recognized.”
Oleg Neishtadt (Russian/American, b. 1962 in Moscow) is a son of artist-dissidents, grew up in New York City with Italians, Hispanics, Blacks, as well as everyone else that inhabited the rotting and splendid, sinister and shining capital of the world. Oleg has exhibited worldwide. His art is a vision of the world expressed in paintings, drawings, and prints composed of different series. One of his most acclaimed pieces is Réalité Magique, a dance of life, humans and not only humans, in a dance of time.
According to Neishtadt, Réalisme Magique is a work of a lifetime. “I was always captivated by the way people behaved. I described it in my stories and pictures. This got me into trouble first with the Soviets and later with American sensibilities. Some things are constant – they still exist. After recent drastic changes in world politics and economy, as well as in my own life, my vision became much more clear.”
His works at The Box Gallery depict how human beings are different everywhere, but their human nature is the same – “an alive, constantly varied dance.”
The “PS13: Post Soviet” exhibit will be available at The Box Gallery throughout the year. The gallery is located at 811-b Belvedere Road, West Palm Beach, and the exhibit is curated by Rolando Barrero.
Online at theboxgallery.info
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