Irena Shklover was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1964. She studied fashion design in the prestigious Moscow University of Design where she specialized in fabric design and graphic arts (1982-1988). Irena has a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts.
In 1996 Irena Shklover and her family immigrated to Canada.
The characters of her paintings are naive creatures with innocent
souls and irresistible charm. They radiate joy and happy feelings into
the world around us. These paintings have wonderful colours and carry
very strong positive energy.
Irena Shklover now lives and works in White Rock (British Columbia) and call herself an artist-whimsicalist.
ARTICLES
2008 - The Now
2007 - The Now, The Peace Arch News, Jewish Independent
2006 - Vancouver Sun, The Peace Arch News, The Now
2005 - The Now, Poetry Canada magazine, Peace Arch News
2004 - The Peace Arch News
2003 - The Peace Arch News
2002 - Bol'shoi Vancouver, The Now
2000 - The Georgia Straight, Rogers (Plug In), The Peace Arch News, The Now, La Source
1999 - The Peace Arch News.
Spirit bears help raise cash for children
Artist Irena Shklover poses with her bear as 50 of the 200 Kermode sculptures are unveiled Friday at the Vancouver convention centre as part of the B.C. Lions Society Spirit Bears in the City Project.
Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun
TV SHOWS
2004 - Multicultural Channel (Discover Russian)
2000 - Rogers (Plug In)
2001 - CBC (News)
SELECTED DONATIONS
2007
- Peace Arch Hospital Foundation's 18th Annual Fundraising Gala (White Rock, May, 7, 2007)
2006
* 1 *
- Auction: Spirit Bears in the City (A BC Lions Society Project)
in support of the BC Lions Society's Easter Seal Operations and the
Canucks for Kids Fund
http://www.spiritbearsinthecity.com/
Photo by Pomax
Whimsical Ocean Bear, sponsor - Shaw Communications Inc.
Location - Downtown Vancouver, inside of Shaw Tower. (Vancouver, 1067-W. Cordova St.).
May-October, 2006.
Provenance: Irena uses bright colors, lively designs and childlike sense of play in her decorative motifs. The central part of the composition: a big funny fish, holding an umbrella with her fin. She is surrounded with other fish, frogs, sea horses, sea stars and jelly fishes – all of them are naïve creatures with irresistible charm, that radiate joy and happy feelings into the world around us. Sea creatures are done in slightly cube-ist style and have a magical mood.
Photo by Kashmera
Whimsical Meadow Bear, sponsor - Grant Thornton LLP.
Location - Downtown Vancouver: West Hastings & Seymour
May-October, 2006.
Provenance: Irena mysteriously transforms her work into what she sees as the spiritual essence of the Universe: a representation of Goodness and Love.
* 2 *
- Spirit Bears in the City - Gala (October, 2006)
* 3 *
- Catch the Semi-Salmon! (Charity auction, organized by The Rotary Club of White Rock - Millennium). March,31, 20
* 3 *
- Peace Arch Hospital Foundation's 17th Annual Fundraising Gala (White Rock, May, 2006)
2005
1 *
- Peace Arch Hospital Foundation's 16th Annual Fundraising Gala (White Rock, May, 7, 2005)
* 2 *
- Fundraising event for Semiahmoo House Society (White Rock, May, 7, 2005)
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
-The solo show at White Rock Museum & Archives (White Rock, BC), January, 2008 - March 2008
- "Artist in the Window" at Artful Things Gallery (South Surrey, BC), October, 2007
-
"Creative Interpretations" - The joint show with Akiko Michael at
"Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery" (The JCC of Greater Vancouver, B.C.)
May,31 - July,8, 2007
- Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, Annual Fundraising Gala, May, 2007
- "Artist in the Window" at Artful Things Gallery (South Surrey, BC), March, 2007
- Display of small paintings at Semiahmoo Library (S.Surrey, BC), January-February, 2007
- Solo show at Indigo Sun Cafe (Semiahmoo Mall, South Surrey, BC), December, 2006 - UNGOING
- Joint show - Autumn Art Show in your Library (White Rock, BC), October,1, 2006
- Lion's Society Auction, Spirit Bears in the City (Vancouver, BC), November10, 2006
- Display of 2 Spirit Bears in Vancouver, BC (Spirit Bears in the City project) May-October, 2006
- Solo show at Ocean Park Library (White Rock, BC), October-November, 2006
- Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, Annual Fundraising Gala, May, 2006
- The solo show at the Ocean Park Library (White Rock, BC) April, 1 - April, 31, 2006
- The joint show at Euphorbia -2006 (art show organized by The Rotary Club of White Rock - Millennium). March 31, 2006
- The solo show at the Semiahmoo Library (South Surrey, BC) March,1 -March, 31, 2006
-
The solo show at the Gallery of Community Arts Council of White Rock
& District (White Rock, BC) November, 25 - December, 17, 2005
- The solo show at the Semiahmoo Library (South Surrey, BC) November,1 -November, 30, 2005
- Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, Annual Fundraising Gala, May, 2005
- The joint show at Taste of Ocean Park (White Rock, BC) May, 28, 2005
- The solo show at the Semiahmoo Library (South Surrey, BC) March,1 - April, 30, 2005
- The solo show at the White Rock Library (White Rock, BC) February,1 - February, 28, 2005
-
The joint show of Irena's students art works at the Semiahmoo Library
(South Surrey, BC) December, 8, 2004 - February, 5, 2005.
- The solo show at the White Rock Library (White Rock, BC) November,1 - November, 30, 2004
- The joint shaw with other artists at Make it Memorable Art Gallery (White Rock, BC) November 2004 - Feb.2006
- The solo show at the Ocean Park Library (White Rock, BC) August,3 - August, 31, 2004
- Arnold Mikelson Festival of Arts (White Rock, B.C.) July 2004
- The solo show at the White Rock Library (White Rock, BC) June,1 - June, 31, 2004
- The solo show at the Gallery Central Plaza (White Rock, BC) October, 15, - November, 3, 2003
-
The joint show of White Rock & South Surrey Art Society at White
Rock Museum & Archives (White Rock, BC) August, 22 - September, 8,
2003
- The joint show at the Karma Gallery (Vancouver, BC) August, 1 - September, 1, 2003.
- The joint show at the Tunbridge Well Gallery (White Rock, BC) April, 15, 2003 - ongoing
- The solo show at the Ocean Park Library (White Rock, BC) June,1 - June, 31, 2003
- The solo art show at Yucca Tree Cafe (White Rock, BC) February,1 - March, 31, 2003
- The solo show at the Ocean Park Library (White Rock, BC) January, 2 - January, 31, 2003
- The joint show of White Rock & South Surrey Art Society (White Rock, B.C.) December, 1 - December, 25, 2002
- The solo show at Sunflower Cafe (White Rock, BC) October, 24, 2002 - September, 5, 2003.
- The solo show at the White Rock Library (White Rock, BC) August, 1-August, 31, 2002.
- Arnold Mikelson Festival of Arts (White Rock, B.C.) July 13, 14 & 20, 21 , 2001
- The solo show at the Ocean Park Library (White Rock, BC) April, 5 - May 31, 2002
- The joint show at Pelican Rouge Cafe (White Rock, BC) February, 3 - March, 3, 2002.
- The solo show at Ocean Park Library (White Rock, BC) August, 1 - August, 31, 2001.
- Arnold Mikelson Festival of Arts (White Rock, B.C.) July 14,15 & 21,22 , 2001
- The solo art show at Yucca Tree Cafe (White Rock, BC) April, 1 - April 30, 2001
-
"Beaux Arts 2001" - Showcasing Jewish Artists (the joint show with
other artists at "Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery" - The Jewish
Community Centre of Great Vancouver, BC) March, 7 - April, 11, 2001
- The solo art-show at Queen Elizabeth Theatre at Mezzanine Art Gallery, (Vancouver,BC) Jan 9 - Feb 20, 2001
- Arnold Mikelson Festival of Arts (White Rock, B.C.) 8-9; 15-16 July, 2000
-
The joint show with Robyn Levy at "Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery"
(The Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, B.C.) March, 8 -
April, 25, 2000
- The joint show with other artists at "Mind and Matter Gallery" (White Rock, BC) November, 4 - December 31, 1999
-
The exhibition at "The Gallery Central Plaza" (White Rock, BC.) -
Irena's first solo show in Canada. September 17, 1999 - October 2, 1999
SELECTED ARTICLES
WHIMSICALISM ON DISPLAY IN ART
SHOW
SYLVER MCLAREN
The Now Newspaper (The Sounder), January 29, 2008
A local artist says displaying her art at the museum in White Rock
is a privilege because the peninsula inspires her.
"I am very exited that my show takes place at White Rock museum
- it's exactly the spot where I first fell in love with White Rock",
- said Irena Shklover.
"As soon as we visited White Rock, saw the ocean and the beach
we immediately decided to move here. It was love at first glance",
- she said. Shklover arrived in Canada from Russia 11 years ago
and took up residence in White Rock after only six months.
"Ever since I was a child, I had very strong feelings that
when I grew up I would live somewhere near the ocean", she
said. "It was pretty wild dream because Russia was closed country
at that time".
She said the surrounding beauty around her has inspired her to venture
away from her usual subjects - images of people's faces - and experiment
with painting flowers, landscapes and seascapes. A selection of
15 pieces, from both styles, are now on display at White Rock Museum
and Archives until the end March.
"All my life, all my free time was used making something, with
clay, even with papier-mache. But, painting has always been my favourite;
I've always loved vibrant colours."
Shklover said she is often asked what her painting style is but
she didn't identify herself with any one technique. Instead, she
created Whimsicalism, her own unique style. A Whimsicalist can see
the beauty of the world and express its harmony with a splash of
colour. Whimsicalism can mean something unusual and beautiful, but
with a twist.
"In those (faces) paintings, I'm exploring the inner world
of people, changing proportions, points of view and "Whimsicalising"
my objects.
"The nature around us in BC is so magnificent and whimsical
that I get more and more impulses to explore the world around me.
Now I'm painting more of meadows, grasses and flower", she
said. They are not realistic paintings, but her interpretations,
with lots of texture, colours and shapes, she explained.
Shklover said White Rock's splendour is not the only thing inspiring
her. Her husband Mark has contributed to encourage her for nearly
a quarter of a century. "He inspires me to do more art and
even helped me come up with the name Whimsicalism".
She was born in Moscow, and has travelled across Canada and U.S.
"B.C. is amazing, it has very strong energy and fills you with
creativity and love", she said.
"In White Rock there are lots of artists and there are also
those who aren't artist but who are so supportive and have an appreciation
of art. I just love it."
Multi-cultural show a study in contrasts
Akiko Michael and Irena Shklover are two very different artists, but will join together for an exhibition at Vancouver’s Jewish Community Centre.
Jun 08 2007
Peninsula artists Akiko Michael and Irena Shklover join together for gallery exhibit
It’s a multi-cultural exhibition by two Peninsula artists who emigrated to Canada – and also a study in contrasts.
The current show Creative Interpretation, at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery at Vancouver’s Jewish Community Centre, brings together work by Akiko Michael and Irena Shklover which, on the face of it, is about as different as you could get.
Michael’s minimalist ink drawings are virtually minus colour, using a few lines to create an impression of character and movement in her subjects.
Shklover’s acrylic paintings, on the other hand, almost vibrate with intense colours, whether depicting fanciful people and animals or landscapes, or veering off into more abstract areas.
But there are some similarities, the artists acknowledge.
Shklover, who coined the word Whimsicalism to describe a new school of art several years ago, seldom ventures into the darker realms of creativity, even though her latest works include more experiments with abstraction and a less extreme palette.
The Whimsicalist credo is to emphasize the upbeat with paintings that tap into an exuberant and positive energy, and there’s a very similar lightness and joy to Michael’s work, which can be equally fanciful and humourous in its depictions of humans and animals. There is an illustration quality to both artists’ work (Michael has also illustrated books) that is more likely to leave a viewer with a smile than a frown.
Creative Interpretation is ultimately about encouraging the viewer to imagine, whether it’s through completing the playful open-endedness of Michael’s lines, or exploring the the equally playful images created by Shklover.
It’s also interesting that Michael, born in Tokyo in 1967, and Shklover, born in Moscow in 1964, both studied disciplines in which whimsicality is a virtue. Shklover took fashion design at the Moscow University of Design, specializing in fabric design and graphic arts, while Michael was trained in the techniques of classical (two dimensional) animation at Vancouver Film School.
“I used my skill in Asian brush stroke and the lines from classical animation to create my own style,” said Michael, who allies the sureness of traditional brush technique with the gestural accuracy of an animator’s key drawings.
“I focus on the movement of subjects and try to capture the moment – the essence of the movement,” she said.
Shklover’s influences include European masters such as Picasso, Chagall, Rousserau and Kandinsky, – and her own intuitive use of colour.
“The sight of a white canvas inspires me,” she said.
“I can’t wait to cover every inch with paint. Bright colours make me happy. I like to play with them, watch them move from one shade to another, from one form to another.
“The last thing I do to a canvas is to shade it with white, returning it back to its roots.”
In planning the show, Michael said, there was some concern how her black and white works would fare in contrast to Shklover’s colours, but the exhibition is confirmation that their subtle expression also makes its presence felt.
“Traditional ink work is limiting,” she acknowledged.
“But I hope that using it in a contemporary manner will expand its use and make it accessible to a larger and more diverse audience.”
June 8, 2007
WHIMSICAL WONDERLAND
Line drawings and color paintings mesh well.
BAILA LAZARUS
Jewish Independent
It's
hard to imagine two more opposite fine art styles could hang side by
side and complement each other so well. But the work of Irena Shklover
and Akiko Michael do just that in Creative Interpretation, at the Sydney and Gertrude Zack Gallery this month and next.
Shklover's
work is that of the colorist – acrylic on canvas. Michael works in
black ink on paper. Shklover covers the whole canvas with color and
form; Michael throws a few wispy brush strokes onto the page, without
even completing the figure. Shklover's faces are full of expression and
detail; Michael's subjects are faceless outlines.
These are the
more obvious, visual cues. But delve deeper and you can see several
characteristics that the two art forms share. Both artists stimulate
the imagination. Shklover creates scenes that are surreal, without
being disturbing; full of flights of fancy, causing the viewer to
wonder what's going on.
In "Whimsical Fish," for example, a face
turns into a fish's head; while in "Fancy Dinner," dishes of food float
up off the table into what looks like the night sky.
Michael's
drawings also require a bit of engagement from the viewer, who will see
the forms by completing the lines in their imagination. The work also
evokes the imagination of the senses. In "Marilyn," for example, one
can almost feel the rush of air coming up from an invisible grate to
blow up the actress's skirt, a movement so famous, it need only be
hinted at with a seemingly casual swoop of the pen. In "Chaplin I," one
can almost hear the music of the silents and expect the subject to
teeter off the page in his distinct waddle and hop down into the
gallery.
Both artists also connect to each other through their
expression of whimsy in their art. Shklover enjoys just painting what
comes to mind, and she never knows how it's going to end up. In every
painting, the viewer's eye could travel back and forth several times
and still find little hidden gems not caught on the first glance.
"It's
like making music," said Shklover, about adding the color and shape to
the canvas. "It's only ready when I get the feeling that it's ready."
Shklover said she always has something mystical and mysterious going on
in her paintings.
Michael's style, on the other hand, puts fun
into slight gestures: Chaplin's tip of his cap, Marilyn's slight tilt
of her shoulder, both evoke feelings of playfulness.
Shklover, who was born in Moscow and lived in Israel before coming to Canada in 1996, studied fashion design at the Moscow University of Design. She has a bachelor's degree in decorative arts.
Michael was born in Tokyo and moved to Vancouver in 1990. She studied classical animation at Vancouver Film School. Her work is the result of combining Japanese brush strokes, which she learned at home, with classical animation training.
"I
was fascinated by lines," said Michael, "by the movement of lines in
classical animation. I wanted to apply that in something different, so
I combined it with Japanese brush skills. Just a little push [with the
brush] makes a big difference in what you see. I wanted to introduce
the Japanese style to a Canadian and especially younger audiences."
Artist has whimsical touch
Carolyn Cooke (published on 01/31/2007), The Now
White Rock artist Irena Shklover calls her painting style whimsicalism.
So,
what is whimsicalism? Colourful optimism and unpredictable fantasy,
qualities that are immediately obvious when you see the Russian-born
painter's work.
Shklover's canvasses are bright, colourful images
that often depict human faces and sometimes beautiful, bizarre animals
or swooping lines to describe bottles or other objects.
"Most people appreciate landscapes but I can't do that just because people want that," Shklover said.
"Even my florals are not (realistically depicted) florals."
Shklover,
who studied fabric design and graphic arts for six years in Moscow,
moved to Canada with her family in 1996. For the first three years she
didn't paint at all - it was a time of adjustment to her new home, she
said.
But when she did take up her brushes again, it was to take her art in a whole new direction - and whimsicalism was born.
"People ask me if I can paint realistically and I can do it because I have a great education but I don't like it," she said.
Shklover's first show was at The Gallery in White Rock, across the street from her current show at Indigo Sun Caf‚.
In
between, she has had a number of local shows and painted two Spirit
Bears - Whimsical Ocean Bear and Whimsical Meadow Bear. The
ocean-themed bear was bought by people from Ocean Park who have a
collection of Shklover's work.
She said painting the bears was fun but challenging because they aren't a flat surface.
"I tried to paint on my bears what I paint on my canvasses."
In
her work, you can see Shklover's influences: Matisse, Picasso, Arusso
and Russian artists from early last century, such as Kandinsky.
While
her work is clearly playful and fun - Shklover said it appeals to the
inner child each of us has, no matter how much a person may try to hide
it - they are also contemplative.
"If you look at it you can meditate," she said, even though the canvasses are energetic and uplifting.
"All my walls at home are covered with my paintings and I love it," Shklover said with a laugh.
"When I'm getting in a bad mood I look at them and I feel happy."
Shklover
said her current burst of creativity isn't just because she found a
style that so appeals to her. When she worked as an illustrator, she
said it was hard because so much of her creativity was wrapped up in
her day job. Now she has a part-time job to relieve financial pressure,
and her art is better off for it.
The exhibit at Indigo Sun Caf‚,
owned by Emilian and Elisa Bartos, who have had the coffee shop near
Semiahmoo mall for about a year, started on Jan. 7.
It came about, Shklover said, when she first spotted the caf‚'s walls one day when she was working across the street.
"I
saw the walls, really nice walls, and I asked them if they take
artists. They said yes. I showed them a few pictures and they said
bring in more tomorrow."
Shklover's work now covers two of the establishment's walls and is expected to be there until the end of June, perhaps longer.
"It's nice to work with people who appreciate (art work)," she said.
Shklover also has some paintings at the Semiahmoo Library, but those are quite small to accommodate the limited display area.
Indigo Sun Caf‚ is at 15155 16th Ave., South Surrey.
THE ART OF WHIMSY (Peace Arch News)
By Alex Browne
Arts Reporter
Nov 22 2005
Call it a whimsicalist's prerogative.
White Rock resident
Irena Shklover has defined the school of art known as whimsicalism -
which thanks to the Internet now has 15 signed-up members around the
globe, including Toronto sculptor Natalia Shapira.
But the
Russian-born Shklover, who came to White Rock nine years ago with
husband Mark and two daughters, can't say exactly how her next painting
will turn out, or which of her moods it will embody.
Thus her
upcoming show at White Rock Arts Council Gallery will show not only the
fanciful animals, multi-faceted faces, cheerfully grotesque people and
delightfully askew houses for which she has become known, but also -
surprise - abstracts and still lifes, albeit still in bright
Shklover-esque hues.
Her work is very much as the whim takes her.
"Sometimes
I feel to do more careful work; sometimes I feel like doing more
improvisation - like jazz music," she said pointing to one of her free
abstract explosions of colour.
"I've also tried still lifes," she added, indicating a canvas of bottle shapes.
"But I think they're more me - the bottles are like people and everyone has its own character."
To
approach landscapes and still lifes in the standard manner would be
unbearable, admits Shklover, who trained in design and illustration in
Moscow, and admires the work of the early 20th century Russian avant
garde.
But she's not averse to purely commercial ideas, such as her
charming White Rock postcards - photographed three dimensional designs
created in modelling clay.
"I've been trying a few things different and this is my latest non-painting project," she said.
"I was thinking White Rock needs a smile."
Her paintings are just as carefully considered.
"Each time before I start painting I think a lot, like meditating," she said.
"I start thinking about the next one and then the image comes into my head,"
She knows a painting is working when "it rings some bells" in her mind.
"The final painting can go far away from what I thought in the beginning, but if it still rings bells, it's alright.
"I have to love something to paint it."
Her work still embraces many of the same themes, it has progressed technically, she said.
"I'm painting more and more details, where before it was schematic painting."
Painting abstracts has been an interesting exercise, she said.
"It's just pure expression, and it helps me to feel better about myself.
The
roots of whimsicalism run deep. Among artists that have strongly
influenced Shklover are Breughel, Bosch, Chagall, Dali, Rousseau,
Picasso, Matisse and Ukrainian cubist Kasimir Malevich.
Shklover
admits she still has trouble anticipating the elements of her art that
will prove popular, but still hews to her individual course.
"A lot
of people like beige paintings, but I cannot do them. I don't feel
good. I can start beige, but then I start adding in more and more
colours...
"I like the Buddhist concept of doing something for the
energy you feel from it; then it will find its place somewhere in the
world."
IRRESISTIBLE IMPULSE
IRENA SHKLOVER FOUNDS A NEW ART MOVEMENT
Artist Irena Shklover puts a whimsical touch on her work, on display during her recent show at White Rock Library.
By Alex Browne
Arts Reporter
A lot of artists call the Semiahmoo Peninsula home. But how many
have started their own art movement-with followers around the world?
Irena
Shklover, former Muscovite, and a resident of White Rock for a decade,
has been noted for her colourful paintings, combining dream-like
environments, humorously exaggerated people and animals, often in
playful juxtaposition.
Many have used the word 'whimsical' to describe Shklover's uniq! ue, highly personal vision.
Little
wonder, then, at the most recent development. Shklover is now the
founder of the art world's newest movement-whimsicalism-complete with
manifesto, and a list of 11 painters, at last count, who feel they fit
the category.
As Shklover's manifesto states: 'Colourful optimism
and unpredictable fantasy are the aesthetic foundations of the new art
movement."
There's no hidden agenda to the whimsicalist-the happy
people, bizarre animals and bright colours of the idiom pose no threat.
Indeed, she sees them as a celebration of the "spiritual essence of the
Universe"- a "representation of Goodness and Love."
"To live with such art gives one the feeling of comfort and warmth."
In creating her manifesto in December, Shklover couldn't avoid the oft-used word 'whimsical'.
"When
I first saw it used in articles, I didn't know the meaning of the
word," she confessed, discussing her work at her recent show at White
Rock Library.
"But I lik! ed the feeling of it. It was like
'musical' and 'wonderful' all in one. When I was trying to get the name
for the movement, I opened the dictionary and looked it up, and it said
just about everything I wanted. I searched the Internet and found there
was no whimsicalism before."
Through those explorations, and as
others visit her own website, she discovered whimsicalism struck a
chord with artists as far afield as her native Russia (Valery Blinov,
Ivan Khoklov), Belgium (Nadia Senyczak), Bulgaria (Sasho Kambourov),
the U.S. (David Aronson), Italy (Giuseppe Mariotti), Australia (Clint
Cassell), Canada (Jim Rowe), the Netherlands (Adrie Martens, Jan
Martens) and Israel (Rozalia Tamarin).
In a letter to Shklover, Senyczak expressed her joy at discovering a movement that expressed her artistic sensibility.
"I never knew exactly how to describe my own work," she wrote.
"It
is sometimes considered naive, but I doubt if it is. Suddenly I read
this manifesto about whimsicalis! m and feel exactly this way about my
work and myself...consider me a proud member."
Shklover is delighted with the response, which also tends to confirm what she suspected-that whimsicalists are born, not made.
"The
whimsicalist has to come out naturally. I can't do realistic stuff-when
I try, it also comes out like this. I studied six years in Russia the
history of art-I'm very fond of Chagall, Pirosmany, Modigliani,
Matisse, Dali."
Whimsicalism, she avers, is the impulse that cannot be resisted.
"We
see the world with our own eyes-we don't want to do what people expect
of us. People always want to see the stuff they're used to-and they
want to put you exactly in one category.
"I did it for them!" she laughed.
By
the same token, she admits people like it when an artist describes what
he or she does-furthermore it's good for the artists to have some form
of definition.
Some putative whimsicalists aren't on Shklover's
website, she said-they didn't fit in wit! h the concept of gentleness
and kindness behind the whimsy.
"A lot of art I see on the Internet
is negative and destructive-I feel so much negative energy that I
cannot paint, cannot do anything after seeing it," she said.
That doesn't mean whimsicalism can't have an edge.
"David Aronson maybe has some scary images, but for me they are more funny than scary."
Even
Shklover's work can turn from her gently quirky animals and landscapes
into greater abstraction, or portraits combining fragmented faces-but
in a benign, reflective spirit.
"It doesn't have to be simple. The art can be complex," she said.
"I love Giuseppe (Mariotti)'s images," she added.
"They
too are very much concerned with what's going on inside him, but you
can look at them and you can rest-you don't have to worry."
As much
as Shklover is resistant to some artists' urges to produce disturbing
images, she acknowledges there may be room for both.
"Sure, why not?
But maybe there's more need f! or this. Some art is really
neutral-there's no negative, there's no positive, it's just wallpaper
and people like it very much. They need something for the colour of
their sofa."
Shklover, who used to run an Internet magazine until
it became too much to manage, has some fears she may have created
something of a monster in whimsicalism.
"There may be people who will come to it who won't fit," she said, philosophically.
"But it will grow as it will grow-when you plant a seed you don't always know what it will become."
She
noted her Internet searches have shown high incidence of this kind of
work on commercial websites in former socialist countries in Eastern
Europe and in South America-although she hasn't been able to contact
the artists. It puts in her mind of her days as an art student and the
lively, semi-underground art world that existed in Moscow.
"It's an expression of a free spirit that nobody can crush," she said.
"I
remember I had to paint landscapes, everything grey, grey, grey. My
teacher was telling me 'why do you paint with such bright colours?' She
was a very grey woman. I don't remember her name, but I remember her
image. She was always in grey and beige, like a mouse."
IMAGINARY SCENES, FANTASY COLOURS
IRENA SHKLOVER'S NEW PAINTINGS MARK FOUR YEARS OF EVOLUTION
By Alex Browne
Arts Reporter
Irena Shklover
New paintings
Venue The Gallery, Central Plaza
15134 North Bluff Rd.
Date Oct. 15-23
Irena Shklover is returning to the venue that launched her Canadian artistic career.
The
White Rock artist's show of new paintings at The Gallery, Central Plaza
is partly in tribute to store owner Annemieke Hillhouse, who encouraged
her painting when Shklover and her family were recent emigres from
Russia.
A member of White Rock and South Surrey Art Club, she has
shown frequently at Arnold Mikelson Festival of the Arts, in library
shows and recently showcased at Karma Gallery in Yaletown.
She helped teach art at Ray Shepherd Elementary, a program that saw children explore multiculturalism.
"I'm
pretty happy to return to the same place I started four years ago.
Annemeike was very nice and always helping me, even when I didn't have
a show. She'd ask me 'what are you working on now?'"
Back then,
Shklover, with a background of design and illustration in her native
Moscow, was painting people in whimsical, almost folk art style-small
paintings depicting characters in different occupations guaranteed to
raise a smile.
A fanciful, fantastic atmosphere is still strong in her art, as is use of the brilliant hues available in acrylics.
But
much of the rest has changed. Now faces and forms of harlequins may
have multiple expressions, or be fragmented into shapes and planes
reminiscent of Chagall, or imaginary cities spring up in gently curved
fairy tale dimensions.
And animals-Shklover started with humourous
cats and birds-have taken on both solidity and extraordinary powers.
Elephants and hippos fly, fish carry umbrellas, cows frolic amid ruins,
turtles provide a resting place for chameleons, and rhinos are a perch
for roosters, frequently under night skies in which planets are
magnified-usually as a bright contrast to give additional balance to a
composition.
"I like contrasts very much," Shklover said.
"In life you can't see planets so big, but you know they're there."
Light and shading have become increasingly important to these unrealistic forms, Shklover noted.
"When I was younger, I didn't pay any attention to that at all, and maybe that's why I do it now," she said.
One
inspiration for her work hangs in her kitchen, a Mexican wooden flying
frog, painted in rich colours reminiscent of the bright palette
Shklover has always used.
She bought it on a trip to Victoria, at a
time when she felt she'd reached a bit of an impasse with her
paintings, something she was discussing with her husband Mark.
"It was like a push," she said.
"Maybe everything else was ready inside, but this was the push."
Other
inspirations have come from Mark's sculpture and prose, the
harlequin-type characters and fairy tale cityscapes from poems he has
written about Lilliput-like lands, and he has offered advice about
small additions to her compositions.
But Shklover emphasizes the direction she has taken her work is very much her own.
Although she did a number of illustrations for a novel Mark is writing, she does not relish the role of illustrator.
"To do the work for somebody else is too much pressure," she said.
"When I was doing illustrations I could not paint anything else. Now I paint just for myself."
Shklover
and her family (two daughters-an 18-year-old at Kwantlen University
College, and an eight-year-old budding artist) enjoy the peace of White
Rock-a contrast to the bustle of Moscow.
"When we arrived in Canada,
we lived in Richmond. When we came to White Rock and saw the beach, we
loved it. We understood we would buy a house only here."
The environment is inspiring, even though she paints strictly from imagination.
"Some inner energy decides what I'm to do," the artist, who uses a sturdy living room table instead of an easel, said.
"It's
like music. I can't sing-I don't have a musical ear-but it's like
creating music. When it's all in harmony, I stop. If it's not, I
destroy it, paint the canvas over in white.
"If I continue, it will come again. The inspiration comes from outside, it cooks inside and then I get what I get."
Shklover tries to paint every day.
"Some
people only paint when they have inspiration. But I will spend two
weeks on one of them. A little bit here, a little bit there, and
inspiration comes."
The evolution of her art is not always easy to
trace, as Shklover will return to earlier styles and approaches as a
break from a current series.
"But when I return, it's always a little bit different. I think I'm not standing in one place, I'm moving."
The Peace Arch News
October,15 - 2003
WHIMSICAL, WONDERFUL ARTWORK
White Rock artist Irena Shklover finds her niche in “Nice Features in Animals and People”, on display at the White Rock Library until August 31. The exhibit is a collection of fun, wholesome and hearty characters whose sole purpose is to make the viewer smile.
Exhibit/White Rock’s library shows paintings
FUN, FRIENDLY ARTWORK
Matthew Burrows
Now contributor
As you venture inside White Rock Public Library, it’s hard to miss the striking depth of colour in local artist Irena Shklover’s paintings as they wind up the staircase. Look closely and you’ll see a red rhinoceros halfway up against a brilliant red-orange backdrop.
This is one of 14 paintings that make up the 36-year-old White Rock resident’s latest exhibit, “Nice Features in Animals and People”, which opened last Thursday and runs until Aug, 31.
To quote the old song, Shklover, who immigrated to Canada from Moscow via Israel with her family in 1996, has chosen to “accentuate the positive” in the paintings. Scenary is vivid and the choice of colours nonnaturalistic. Characters are wholesome and hearty and often are caught at spontaneous moments, or deep in thought. They exude an aura of fun at all times.
“I became interested in this style about four years ago”, said Shklover, who is married with two daughters aged 17 and seven. “I like working with strong colours. I painted people for a long time and have just started with animals. Maybe soon I’ll go back to doing people.”
Shklover added that her portraits are often compared to the works of Marc Chagall or even Picasso, but it keen to point out that they are her “own style”. Her characters include a rabby, a pizza man, a sailor and a host of different musicians. In some cases, such as “The Couple”, (which is not at the library, but can be viewed online at www.atop.com/irena) individuals are caught in contemplative mood. The effect is immediately uplifting and refreshing to the beholder.
Slowly but surely people in Surrey are beginning to take notice of Shklover’s talents. Her first one-women exhibit was back in September 1999, at White Rock Gallery Central Plaza. Now she has made a name for herself in the community. “It’s definitely getting easier”, she added.
Will her daughters be following in mom’s footsteps? “I’m not sure”, she said before a long pause. “My youngest is definitely interested in it and she might, but the eldest is not really interested”.
For more information on Nice Features in Animals and People contact Irena at irena@atop.com.
Wednesday, August 14, 2002
thenownewspaper.com
ARTISTS EXPLORE TRADITIONS WITH EXUBERANCE
April 6-13, 2000 “The Georgia Straight”
by Robin Laurence
Robyn Levy and Irena Shklover at the Gertrude and Sidney Zack Gallery untill April, 25.
Walking into the Zack Gallery at the Jewish Community Centre is
like entering the pages of a children’s book. No, it’s like entering
the pages of two children’s books, since two bodies of work by two
different
artists, Robyn Levy and Irena Shklover, are on display
here. Bright colours, lively designs, a childlike sense of play, the
deft use of decorative motifs, and an occasional mood of nostalgia
characterize both Shklover’s small acrylic paintings of what she calls
“funny people” and Levy’s mixed-media and collage illustrations of
altered nursery rhymes and contemporary life.
…
Both artists are based in Great Vancouver and both come from backgrounds in the decorative and graphic arts.
…
Shklover
studied fabric and graphic arts in her native Moscow and has designed
cards, ceramics, and clothing, as well as illustrating children’s
books.
Shklover’s paintings manifest the strong influence of Marc
Chagall, in both their slightly cubist style and their magical mood.
Her works also incorporate folk-art elements in their flattened forms
and their patterned handling of natural motifs, such as flowers,
leaves, stalks of grain, and wavy bunches of grass. Colours are vivid
and non-naturalistic: a crescent moon may hang in an orange sky over a
range
of watermelon-red mountains.
The funny people or generic
characters depicted by Shklover seem to have stepped out of the
pages of an alphabet book of the “B-is-for-Baker” variety – exept that
there are no letters visible here.
Still, the characters include a
baker, a bookseller, a fisherman, a pizza man, a rabbi, a sailor, and a
whole lot of musicians. Violinist, saxophonist, guitarist,
contrabassist, all play their silent music in the silent gallery.
Though not posed on a roof, a fiddler evokes memories of a famous
Broadway musical. Shklover’s women don’t seem to have occupations (why
not?), but instead are posed holding magically enlarged animals or
objects: a tropical fish, a sunflower, a bouquet, a blue bird, a
languorously twining snake.
Sometimes men and women come
together, in courting pairs or cordial groups, and walk
together through bright fields or night gardens. The
landscapes in which the figures are posed range
from decorative to fantastical. A stylized
image of Jerusalem speaks to the six years Shklover spent in
Israel in the 1990s.
…
Although the prevailing feeling
in this show, in both Levy’s and Shklover’s work, is one of exuberant
playfulness, a more serious question is posed here. How are
minority traditions to be maintained
against the
streamroller of American popular culture? The partial answer may be
through exhibitions like this, and the ongoing challenge for both
artists is to celebrate tradition without resorting to
cuteness, cliches, or cultural stereotypes.
«DON'T KVETSH, BE HAPPY!»
by Tom Zytaruk («The NOW Community»), Saturday, April 1, 2000
South Surrey artist Irena Shklover is sharing an art exhibit with Robin Levy at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. The exhibit runs until April 25.
In Irena Shklover's world it doesn't matter if you are a pizza man, a violinist, an old man with an umbrella or a woman with an orange fan.
You are a «funny» person. And, like it or not, you have a very big head, long, long arms and short, short legs.
An acrilic painting in Shklover's world, you have been described by an art reviewer as one of the South Surrey artist's «naive creatures with innocent souls and irresistible charm».
Congratulations. You are on a trip with 46 other «funny» people until April 25, at the Jewish Community Centre of Great Vancouver, where Shklover is sharing an art exhibit with Robin Levy, entitled, «Don't Kvetch, Be Happy!» («Kvetch» means «worry».)
Shklover, 36, is a relative newcomer to Canada, immigrating here in 1996 from Russia by way of Israel. Born in Moscow, she earned a BA in Decorative Arts from the Moscow University of Design. From 1990 to 1996 Shklover and her family lived in Israel, where she illustrated children's books, taught drawing and designed postcards and greeting cards.
After moving to British Columbia, she set up an Internet magazine for the local Russian community called Privet, Vancouver! (Hello, Vancouver!). She also teaches painting to children at Ray Shepherd elementary school.
Last September, she had an exhibition of her «funny» people portraits at The Gallery Central Plaza on North Bluff Road.
Though she's busy, she always has a few hours set aside each day to paint.
«The life around us is too sophisticated and computerized», Shklover says. People need to have a rest and enjoy simplicity and beauty of art. Painting for me is a big joy and fun. And I would like to share that joy and fun with others».
If she could define her style, she says, it would probably fall in line with primitivism. She cites painters Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall as influences.
Her appealing portraits are of simple people doing simple things. They all seem to be musing about something. «They're very calm, thinking about something. Pondering,» she says.
Shklover is excited about her latest exhibition.
«It's a good place», she said, with a «really big gallery».
The Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver is located at 950 West 41st Ave. in Vancouver.
Phone 257-5111 for more information.
THE SIMPLE PLEASURES
by ALEX BROWNE («The Peace Arch News»), 1 sept. 1999
IRENA SHKLOVER BRINGS A LIGHT TOUCH TO HER "FUNNY" PEOPLE
It's hard to look at Irena Shklover's comical portraits of people without cracking a smile.
The Russian-born artist used to illustrate children's books and that style of innocent simplicity and celebratory humour informs her latest acrilic paintings.
They're all colourful images of people engaged in simple pleasures - things like making music, cooking, fishing.
They have been described - accurately - as "naive creatures with innocent souls and irresistible charm" that "radiate joy and happy feelings".
"The're simple characters", Shklover said. "They don't live too sophisticated lives". I think that there's more than enough things like computers in our lives."
She may be speaking a little facetiously - her husband Mark's computer programming skills are what allowed the couple and their family to emigrate to Canada in 1996. And after they moved to B.C. she established an Internet magazine, Privet Vancouver (Hello, Vancouver) for the Russian-speaking community here - now estimated at well over 20.000 people.
Born in Moscow in 1964, Shklover grew up under the former Soviet regime, studying fashion design and graphic arts at the Moscow University of Design . She holds a bachelors degree in decorative arts.
In 1990 she, her husband and daughters emigrated to Israel. During their six years there she illustrated, designed postcards, ceramics and fashions, exhibited works and taught drawing. A lot of her work consisted of three dimensional figures built of modeling clay, using the same kind of light, whimsical exaggeration that her painting feature now.
The paintings in her upcoming show at The Gallery mark a new burst of creavity over the last few months, Shklover said.
"When I came to Canada I wasn't drawing or painting at all - I don't know why", she said "Right now I feel that I have to paint. I do a lot now, all day long".
Encouraged by the reaction of friends to her new paintings she decided to see whether she could re-start her artistic career with local galleries.
Futher encouragement was received from Mary Mikelson (a joint show with another artists at Mind and Matter Gallery is planned for later this year) and The Gallery owner Annemeike Hillhouse, who responded by arranging the upcoming show. "She has been very supportive", Shklover said, adding that she hopes to eventualy show her works in Vancouver galleries as well.
The one irony that Shklover find in her current situation is that, while life in Canada is superior in many respects to the life she knew in Russia, the level of respect for the art is much lower.
"In Russia artists and writers are very important in the lives of other people. Maybe because it was stricter before, because people could not write or express things so easily, and people would have exibitions and readings in their homes."
The article from russian newspaper "Bolshoi Vancouver", Jan 2002 (pdf file)
