UT Presents Exhibition of Kanevsky Paintings Through March 28

Through March 28, The University of Tampa’s Scarfone/Hartley Gallery is presenting an exhibition of paintings by nationally acclaimed artist Alex Kanevsky.

Born in Russia in 1963, Kanevsky began painting in his spare time while studying theoretical mathematics at the University of Vilnius in Lithuania (then part of the USSR). After his arrival in the U.S. in 1983, he soon turned to painting full time, enrolling in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and winning a Pew Fellowship.

He soon found his modus operandi, working principally from memory, aided at times by his own photographs or live models. Today, Kanevsky continues to structure his loosely representational pictures according to his sensations rather than the dictates of narrative or strict naturalism.

Kanevsky’s pigment is applied with visible strokes and counterstrokes, which gives substance to his forms. He avoids strong contour lines, leaving his edges blurry. There is also an all-pervasive light in many of his works, though the illumination is not all-revealing. Instead, strongly communicating an emotional climate, the paintings are endowed with a sense of mystery.

Kanevsky lives and works in Philadelphia. He is represented by J. Cacciola Gallery in New York City and has exhibited his work in shows in the U.S., Canada, Italy, the UK and Ireland. He teaches a painting seminar at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

The gallery is located on campus at the R. K. Bailey Art Studios at 310 N. Blvd. Gallery hours are 10 to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. There is no charge for admission.

For more information, contact Dorothy Cowden, gallery director, at dcowden@ut.edu or (813) 253-6217.