Vladimir Andreenkov

Transformations are various objects, harmoniously arranged on the canvas in a specific way. They come to life unexpectedly, as with many artists - one work, then another. It's difficult to explain. It's like music that you hear within yourself. Suddenly, there's a desire to depict a particular musical state resulting from the collision of colors and their arrangement on the plane. Somewhere subconsciously, it arises, and you start... First, you make a small sketch, then a bigger one, and then you take the canvas and refine each object. Sometimes it doesn't fit, so you redo it. But sometimes everything comes together right away. I work on the painting until I achieve the perfection that should be, considering the flatness and colors. Sometimes I repaint, realizing that a certain color doesn't work.

Vladimir Andreenkov is a Soviet and Russian painter, sculptor, and non-conformist graphic artist, and one of the pioneers of geometric abstraction in our country. He was born on August 23, 1930, in the city of Chausy in eastern Belarus. In 1944, he enrolled at the Moscow State Art School. In 1958, he graduated from the Surikov Institute. During that time, he participated in two significant exhibitions for his generation: the 4th Moscow Youth Exhibition at Kuznetsky Most, 11, and the All-Union Art Exhibition "40 Years of the Komsomol" at the Manege in Moscow, where he exhibited his work "Female Portrait." After defending his diploma, he made a living as an illustrator for various publishing houses. Starting in 1962, he became a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, and from 1968, he worked at the Moscow Art Graphic Arts Combine, where he exhibited prints, including linocuts and lithographs.
From 1970 onwards, he exhibited abroad, primarily in Switzerland. In 1987, together with Y. Zlotnikov, D. Prigov, B. Orlov, and P. Malinovsky, he participated in the creation of the "First Creative Association." Relative success came to the artist during the years of the fall of the Iron Curtain and the dissolution of the USSR. After 1989, Andreenkov became in demand, and he was invited to participate in numerous exhibitions in Russia and abroad.
Audiences and critics have noted the musicality of the artist's work, as reflected in the combinations of contrasting, often very vibrant, spectrally pure colors, the clarity of proportions, the sharpness of boundaries between color planes, and the expressive linear rhythm. The titles of his works often directly reference musical themes, such as "Harmonies," "Concertos," "Variations," "Fugues" (Red, Blue, Green), "Trio" (Alto, Cello, Violin), "Rhythms," and more.
In 2001 and 2015, retrospective exhibitions of the artist were held in the exhibition hall of the Union of Artists on Kuznetsky Most. Andreenkov's works can be found in the collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery (GTG), the State Museum of Oriental Art (GRM), as well as in museums in Tula, Belgorod, Orel, Kemerovo, Vladivostok, Mogilev, and Padua.