Aleksey Kharitonov

Aleksey was born in 1977 in Sorovo, Arkhangelsk Oblast. In 1999, he graduated from the School of Education of the Mikhail Lomonosov Pomor State University. The artist lives in Koryazhma, Arkhangelsk Oblast, teaching art at the Koryazhma Residential Child Care Community School.

Aleksey Kharitonov is obviously in the best position to sense his native region’s genius loci, and that is why his art is a loving celebration of his homeland rather than just a rendering of its poor infrastructure in greyish tones or an illustration of the hardships of provincial life. The artist says that painting is his only way to tap into reality. By using compelling imagery he manages to elevate the viewers from their mundane existence. In our minds, his paintings can generate new meanings of their own accord, while the powerful visuals – be it an old lady leaving for good her abandoned village or a stray dog with a penetrating gaze living by the waste bins where someone has also dumped some books – evoke empathy.