You are invited to an Opening Reception of a unique solo show “CONNECTION OF TIMES”, the first in Texas, by Russian Artist Alexander Gorelov.
December 6, Saturday, 2-4 pm at Degallery.
Artist Biography: Alexander Gorelov
Born on November 22, 1958, in the northern town of Khanty-Mansiysk, Russian artist Alexander Gorelov has spent a lifetime shaped by landscapes, traditions, and the deep rhythms of nature. His early artistic training began in a children’s art school, where the vast Siberian scenery—floodplains of the Ob and Irtysh Rivers, low mountain ridges crowned with ancient cedars, and sun-lit sandbanks scattered with rounded stones—formed his first visual language. Guided by his teacher, Nikolai Dmitrievich Ivanov, Gorelov learned to observe nature with precision and tenderness, painting long plein-air sessions that nurtured his love of the natural world.
In 1976, Gorelov entered the Ural School of Applied Arts, a transformative environment filled with stone-cutting studios, metalworking workshops, and walls adorned with mosaics, frescoes, and student copies of Renaissance masterpieces. The creative energy of the Urals—its craftsmanship, materials, and artistic heritage—became a formative chapter in his development. From 1977 to 1979, he served in the Soviet Army, and in 1982 he completed his studies at the Ural School.
Another turning point came with the Krasnoyarsk State Art Institute, where he studied from 1986 to 1991. The Yenisei River region, with its dramatic shift from steep forested cliffs to quiet steppes framed by the Sayan Mountains, offered an entirely new palette of inspiration. Ancient burial mounds, menhirs, stone carvings, and petroglyphs—traces of civilizations thousands of years old—deepened his fascination with mystery, time, and the spiritual dimensions of landscape. In 2002, he became a member of the Union of Artists of Russia, exhibiting widely at regional and national levels.
In 2015, Gorelov moved to Texas, where he continues his artistic practice from his home studio. The landscapes of Texas—particularly the sprawling oak trees—gave him an immediate sense of belonging. Standing beneath an ancient oak, protected from the sun, he writes, “I feel at peace. I’m home.” The discovery of fossilized shells in a nearby stream awakened the same sense of deep time that first inspired him along the Yenisei. Texas became not only a new home, but a new artistic chapter filled with light, warmth, and possibility.
Artist Statement
I have always experienced art as a form of communication—an exchange carried through images, symbols, and the quiet language of nature. My childhood memories, the wild landscapes of Siberia, and the ancient worlds along the Yenisei continue to live within my work. The mysterious, the majestic, and the timeless all speak to me, shaping my artistic vision.
Creativity remains, for me, a profound mystery. In the studio, childhood impressions, new ideas, and years of artistic study combine naturally—without effort, as though they know their place on the canvas. My paintings are not monumental works intended for palaces or public halls. Instead, they are intimate in scale, created for homes and for thoughtful viewers who love nature, silence, and reflection—for romantics who seek beauty in the quiet details of the world.
In Texas, I found a landscape that resonates deeply with my inner world. The ancient oak trees, the traces of prehistoric life found in the earth, and the vast sense of time fuel my imagination and inspire new artistic ideas. When I paint, I feel these layers of time merging—Siberia, the Urals, the Yenisei, and Texas—forming a single, continuous story.
My exhibition is an invitation to step into this story: a personal vision shaped by nature, memory, and the universal human desire to find meaning in the world around us.
