Arundel Contemporary

We are delighted to present the first solo exhibition of works by Alex Berdysheff at Arundel Art Room.

Alex Berdysheff was born in Tbilisi, Georgia (then USSR) in 1964.

In 1988 he graduated from the Tbilisi State Academy of Fine Arts with a diploma in Graphic Design. Later, in 1990 he went on to study at the Glasgow School of Art under a post-graduate programme. It was in Scotland that his personal odyssey as an artist began, and where he received his first recognition.

Berdysheff refers to his artistic talent as “an anomaly”. Art for him represents the sole expression of his inner self, the important means through which he conveys his sentiments.

Berdysheff’s artistic style is unique and highly individual. His works display strength, confident use of geometric lines, shapes and proportions, and above all, skillful draftsmanship. He makes extensive use of vivid colours, explaining that for him, “the form and colour define the content”, sometimes the form dominates and other times the colour; in his works abstraction opens up, giving way to fantasy and unexpected conclusions; he employs the use of contrasts to great effect: “I like the opposition of chaos and order in my paintings,” he explains.

Today, Alex credits prehistoric rock paintings as being one of his strongest influences, and this is evident in his extensive representation of symbolized, anthropomorphic forms.

The art of Alex Berdysheff is as much about subject as it is about the feeling it invokes. His paintings contain intensity, as well as depth that offers sense to the absurdity of life, creating visual and intellectual enlightenment.