Surreal artist jeweler Vladimir Kush

Surreal artist jeweler Vladimir Kush
In addition to painting, Vladimir Kush has mastered various art directions. Among them – animation, sculpture and jewelry, and he is equally talented in all of them. Born in 1965, in Moscow, Vladimir Kush began drawing quite early, when the boy was 7 years old. First, he studied at the art school in Krasnopresnensk district of Moscow (for 10 years). Then, Vladimir entered the Stroganov Academy of fine arts. After graduating from the academy, he worked as a freelance artist, like many artists of the time. He sold his beautiful paintings on the famous Moscow art street – Arbat. According to the artist, he just painted the portraits of passers-by, then his talent attracted the attention of foreigners. Once, Kush was invited directly to the American embassy. Thanks to this chance, the artist was able to significantly tighten up his English, and to get an invitation to visit the USA.

The first trip to the United States lasted a month and a half. His plans for the future was to emigrate. Vladimir thought at first it would be better to get some education in Europe. By that time he was able to arrange one exhibition of his work in Germany, and even sell a few paintings. Received a total of about 3 thousand dollars, the artist left Frankfurt for Los Angeles.

In the USA Vladimir was able to find a place to live – though not in the prestigious area of the city. At first he went back to drawing portraits on the streets. Desperately short of money, Vladimir could not even afford a bus ticket. Working in Santa Monica, one day Kush had to spend the night on a bench in a local park.

Despite all the turmoil, Vladimir Kush never ceased to paint. Portraits brought him a small but income – enough for bread. Kush did not lose hope. Once he walked through the galleries and gave his paintings on commission. Surrealism, unfortunately, didn’t have a particular success with the masses, and nobody was in a hurry to exhibit his creativity.

Yet at a certain point, things went uphill – but not in the United States – in Hong Kong. Vladimir moved there in 1993, a French dealer arranged his exhibition. Here his painting got some success, but after the accession of Hong Kong to China, the flow of customers went down. Vladimir Kush came back to America and started patiently his road to success. At some stage, Vladimir could afford to open his own gallery. His works are now sold in his four galleries – in California, Las Vegas and Maui.

Metaphor leaves the mind open to grasp onto the hidden likeness of things and events. And the more distant these things are, the greater the effect. The unexpectedness of the connection and sudden insight, which takes your breath away, is the true measure of the painting’s value, according to the artist. Different from art that leaves us in speechless admiration (realism) or suggests we solve a puzzle made of symbols (abstract art), metaphorical art challenges our subconscious with the symbolism of artifacts.

Any metaphor has its own story to tell. Metaphor “sees” through centuries, unveiling the images of the world and connecting notions created by civilization.

Surreal artist jeweler Vladimir Kush

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