The Old House
2007
Digital Print                                       

Andrejs Majevskis [Andrey Maevsky]
Residence: Riga, Latvia
Birthplace: Omsk, Russia

Working in a wide variety of artistic techniques that include painting, drawing, photo, minor plastic arts, as well as making works of wood and glass, Andrejs Majevskis’ art reveals a distinct influence of classical antiquity that he is an ardent admirer of. His works are considered highly talented quotations of different styles––Hellenistic, Byzantine, & Fayum, among others––and his 2003 series, 'Fayum Portrait', colored egg-shell mosaic portraits made with his own technique using the inside of pine-tree bark, is highly reflective of this skill. One of the artist’s favorite creative themes, is the depiction of a human being in a state of loneliness and isolation, evident in his selected work, ‘The Old House’, as well as in his 2005 photo-project, 'My Hermitage', and a series of male nude drawings [2000], that also reflect on the beauty of the male form, another of Majevskis’ aesthetic inclinations.

Born in Omsk, Russia, in 1967, Andrejs Majevskis graduated from the Omsk School of Art and the V.P. Belousov Art Studio. He became a member of the Young Artist’s Union in 1988, and was admitted to the Repin Institute of The Art Academy of the USSR, specializing in ‘History & Theory of Art’. Since 1987, he has lived in Riga, Latvia, and has worked in the State Hermitage in Saint Petersburg since 1989. In 1991, he worked for the Hermitage’s ‘Project for Pre-school Children’, and was Director of the Russian Society’s Children’s Art Academy [Antik] in Riga from 1990–95. In 1992, he prepared the Gatchina Palace premises of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, for restoration, and conducted archeological excavation of Genoa Fortress in Sudak, Crimea, Ukraine. Andrejs Majevskis was a ‘Rigas vini’ art gallery critic from while organizing several large-scale art exhibitions in Riga from 1996–98, including momentous exhibitions dedicated to the Third International Ballet Festival [1997], and to the 50th Anniversary of the State of Israel [1998], among others. Most recently, in 2007, he organized The Riga Printed Graphic Biennale, ‘RIGABIN 2008: The First International Exhibition of Graphical Art in Riga’. He has been a member of the Artists’ Union of Russia since 2003, and the Artists’ Union of Latvia since 2004.

Education
Omsk School of Art
V.P. Belousov Art Studio

2008
‘Symphony of Flowers’, Riga Blackhead’s Hall, Riga, Latvia

2007
IX ‘Josep de Ribera’ Biennale Internacionale de Gravura, Casa de Cultura de Xativa, Xativa, Valencia, Spain
‘Friendship Bridge’ Exhibition, Mikhail Vrubel Fine Arts Museum, Omsk Russia
Modern Graphic Art Exhibition, Juzhno-Sahalinsk, Russia
Graphic Art Festival Exhibition, Artists’ Union Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Exhibition for the Baltic International Ballet Festival, Riga Blackhead’s Hall, Riga, Latvia

2006 [Selected]
‘Latvian Graphic Artists’, Group Exhibition, Latvian Consulate General, Saint Petersburg, Russia
‘White Inter-Nights 2006’, 3rd International Biennale of Graphic Art, Contemporary Graphiks Art Foundation, Manege Central Exhibition Hall, St. Petersburg Museum of Contemporary Arts, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Contemporary Art of Latvia, Iowa Hall Gallery, Kirkwood College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Art of Latvia, Arts Iowa City Gallery, Iowa City, Iowa