Almost Blue – Chet Baker

ARTIST STATEMENT

“I like spirit of those times and I want to bring back that life and transform it into another reality.”  Peter Panov

Peter Panov was born in Izevsk, Ural.
Graduated at Stroganoff Academy of Fine Art, Moscow

To contemplate the theme of Peter Panov’s paintings is to enter the small door into his vast and incredible imagination. Panov depicts the iconic modern city of Paris of the 1920s and its thriving inhabitants at leisure. Some of his characters are familiar; you have met them in the cafés and on the streets of your own city. His paintings evoke the sensation of modernity and contemporaneity, and his cubist aesthetic enhances the timelessness of his subjects and style.

The avant-garde style of cubism was born approximately the same time that interests Peter the most, the early 20th century. By using elements of both analytical and synthetic cubist styles in his creations, he builds the aroma of that mysterious and stimulating epoch: when artists and musicians were gathering in Parisian cafés and instigating cultural revolutions in art, design, literature, architecture and music. Reminiscent of collage, Panov’s paintings often mimic newsprint text that is characteristic of the period of synthetic cubism. From the analytical cubist style, he draws his flat forms and planes of color, which are assertively flat and yet simultaneously evoke depth.

Being a real master of brush, Peter embroiders his paintings with numerous rich details that make spectators consume every inch of the canvas. You may see someone moving behind the curtains, the stones could be alive and even the reflections in car windows and glasses of wine amaze you with their own stories. Peter’s paintings make us realize that not only do people shape the image the city that surrounds them, but that the city itself molds its dwellers.

Peter’s palette is rich and exquisite. His incredible ability to combine textures using either a palette knife or brush produces amazing results. It is a joyful experience to just gaze at his textures and well-combined shades of colors, which are vibrant and sophisticated. His images are full of character and fillings, warmth and charm. Peter knows how to wind the mechanism of our imagination and convert gray routine into the colored unpredictability of every moment. His ability to discover something special in every moment of life defines the genius that radiates from each of his masterpieces.