The Art: Mythology of the Oceans and Heavens
The Artist: Vladimir Kush
About the Work:
Mythology of the Oceans and Heavens by surrealist painter Vladimir Kush is the kind of artwork you can see a thousand times, and yet recognise something new in on each occasion.
Rife with metaphor, Kush uses the work as a reflection on early humankind’s endeavour to make sense of the natural world. Each element of the painting is a mythological answer to an unheard question – how does the moon move through the sky? How did the sun come to be? How are boats able to float on the water?
United, these elements form a vibrant, perfectly composed image full of life and humour.
Kush’s surrealist work stands in stunning contrast to his first job as in artist. Growing up in the former USSR, he created propaganda for the army, until relocating to the US in 1991. A decade later, he opened Kush Fine Art Gallery.
“The first gallery was opened with ZERO starting capital – purely on the wave of interest in my art – and with no planning. If the new gallery did not sell in the first week, I would go down”, he would later reveal.
Fortunately, it was a success, and Kush would open another three galleries across the country before moving into the digital space to create multimedia projects in the early 2010s.
To see more of Kush’s work, check out his Facebook page, where he updates often. You can also visit his website, where archived copies of previous works are still available to view.