Abend Gallery | 8/13-8/27 | Denver, CO

Scenes of Abstraction

Abend Gallery presents the uniquely abstracted works of Vadim Dolgov

Vadim Dolgov grew up observing and copying the art of his father, uncle and cousin as they created their art. He later received a degree from Orenburg Academy of Fine Art and Design in Russia. In 1997, his accomplishments as a painter earned him a position on a trip to paint in India after which the artist's work was exhibited at the esteemed Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, an auspicious beginning to his career. Dolgov moved to Canada in 1998 where he continued move fluidly among pop art, impressionism and realism, painting portraits, landscapes and cityscapes.Sunny Walk, oil on canvas, 48 x 48"Colors of Journey, an exhibition of 10 of his recent paintings, will be shown at Abend Gallery in Denver, August 13 through 27.

Color and light animate the forms in his paintings, especially his geometrically abstracted cityscapes. The abstraction of Sunny Walk is not immediately apparent as it blends with the verticality of the city buildings. Light, color and atmosphere recreate the visual cacophony of the busy city scene. Pedestrians (and a dog) are colorfully delineated in the lower right of the composition as the detail softens in his rendition of tall skyscrapers.Lily Pads, oil on canvas, 60 x 48"

“Strong vertical lines of urban structures bring a stabilizing balance to the painterly chaos of Vadim Dolgov’s bustling cityscapes,” says Abend associate director, Samantha Manion. “The artist brilliantly defines the lush vibrance of the natural world with impasto fragments that celebrate the way light reflects on cities and landscapes.”Chicago, oil on canvas, 36 x 36"Dolgov is fond of painting en plein air, where he has learned the subtleties of changing light and color. In his painting, Lily Pads, as in Sunny Walk, he paints the foreground lily pads and flowers in thick impasto and high chroma, dissolving into the atmospheric distance. In this instance, his vertical geometric abstract contrasts with the curved shapes of the lily pads and landscapes. The 4 by 5-foot canvas draws the viewer into the scene to experience its reality in an unexpected way. —