Lubov was born in St.
Petersburg, Russia. Anxious for cultural and
political freedom, Lubov immigrated to the
United States. This move caused her to adapt
to a culture very different than the one she
had known. Although she has very few good
memories of her youth while in Russia and of
her move to the US, her early adversities
forged a great strength of character that
would benefit her for the rest of her life.
It is this strength of character and her
tenacious hold on truth that abounds in her
art.
Perhaps oddly, it is the art of the
fantastic - fantasy, phantasmagoric - that
draws Lubov's imagination and her skills as
an artist. Her work has its own voice. It
stands outside the cacophony of commercial
art, the core purpose of which always will
be to sell you something you don't
necessarily need. Lubov studied art at the
Chicago Art Institute, one of the most
prestigious schools in the country, but she
maintains that her true knowledge of art -
her sense and sensibility - comes via her
own studies. Lubov's work is singular in
both imagination and execution. There is
technical mastery in her work; mastery in
the sense of the old masters. Lubov's art is
a return to the pre-Raphaelites' storied
imagination, a thesis of art that resonates
for Lubov. (Lubov's artistic inspirations
include Adolphe-William Bouguerau, John W.
Waterhouse, Maxfield Parrish, Sir Lawrence
Alma-Tadema, Victor Mikailovich Vasnetsov,
Arkhip Kuinji, Alphonse Mucha, and
Rembrandt.) Lubov paints with oils, the most
difficult painting medium of all. The
technique itself is six hundred years old
and nothing since devised can match the
sheer power of this very human mode of
expression when handled by such an expert.
Art never was about mere self-expression; it
is all about emotion. Art is the expression
of the universal self; the human experience
to which each person can relate. Of course,
there exist many levels to art - its
context, sub-text, and hidden text, or
message - but if art requires explanation
then it has failed. Lubov shows us, the
appreciators of her art, understanding and
appreciation by using the story of her
painting and the wizardry of her technique.
There exists in her work that indefinable
something that conveys simultaneously both
perfect innocence and vast wisdom. These
rather contradictory qualities are found in
the artist herself. Lubov is young and old;
wise beyond her years.
To view her work in the proper manner, it
might be simplest to think of her as a
classical painter exploring the human
condition through the scrim of the
fantastic. Though still young, Lubov has the
certain potential to become a master in the
classic sense. It is your opportunity to
enjoy, appreciate, and even collect Lubov's
work now, before the world's great museums
recognize her magnificent talent. |
