AGES OF EMPIRE:
Paintings by Stanislav Shpanin
WHEN: July 1-26 • Meet the Artist Reception, Sunday, July 10, 1-3 PM
WHERE: Waltuch Gallery, Kaplen JCC, 411 E. Clinton Ave., Tenafly
Gallery hours are Monday – Thursday, 9 AM – 10 PM; Friday and Sunday, 9 AM – 5 PM; closed Saturday and Jewish holidays.
ADMISSION: free and open to the community.
Artwork is available for sale.
For more information contact Ophrah Listokin, Waltuch Gallery Director, at 201.408.1408 or visit the JCC website at www.jccotp.org.
At the age of 12, Stanislav Shpanin (Stass) was already listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “Youngest Professional Artist in the World.” By that time, he had already exhibited in 10 solo shows throughout Russia, Italy, Israel, Azerbaijan, France and the U.S. Now, only 21, Stass continues to win numerous international art competitions. In 2002, he won the International Grand Prize at the “River of Words” environmental poetry and art contest conducted in affiliation with The Library of Congress, and just last year, he was named one of the “Movers and Shakers” of the year by the Jewish Ledger publications.
Ages of Empire, to be exhibited at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in July, will feature a series of compelling paintings that reflect both Stass’ journalistic accuracy and his unique and individual expressionism. Looking to capture the paradoxical life of the European Silver Ages, this special exhibit will include paintings of the Tsar’s familial daily duties as well as genre scenes of that period. Stass’ goal in these paintings is to evoke a cultural memory that questions societies of the past, present and future.
“Growing up in Russia, surrounded by international news, politics, history and science, I became interested not only in painting, but in questioning cultural systems,” says Stass. “I became a visual journalist, eager to find paradoxical images and narratives related to my research. I want my artwork to be convincing and energetic, and to have my paintings reflect the historical and cultural loss that will never be restored.”
Stass’ works are on public display at numerous public and private collections, which include the Museum of Contemporary Russian Art (USA), the Jasper Rand Art Museum (USA), the Museum of Energy and Honor (Israel), the Norway Humanitarian Agency (Norway), the collections of President Heydar Aliev of Azerbaijan and former President George W. Bush, as well as other private collections. The Washington Post has observed that Stass “paints brilliantly-hued still lifes and vivid street scenes, draws sure-handed pencil sketches and composes swirling and unsettling abstract images.”
(From the top: Stass with brushes; Nicholas II Playing Tennis No. 1, 2010; Girls on Tricycle 2010; Rabbi with Chickens 2010)
