“Counterform 1959” oil-on-canvas by Valery Yurlov The Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, will continue its series of one-person shows devoted to Soviet nonconformist artists with “In the Search of an Absolute: Art of Valery Yurlov,” on view through June 3.
Yurlov stands out as one of the earliest proponents of analytical abstraction within Soviet nonconformist art and was among those brave artists who, as early as the 1950s, defied the harsh restrictions placed on artists by the Communist government.
“We are very pleased to spotlight these 50 pioneering works, selected from more than 200 by the artist in the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection at the Zimmerli,” said museum director Suzanne Delehanty.
The exhibition focuses on works from the late 1950s and 1960s, with a few later pieces from the artist.
“Valery Yurlov continues the intellectual traditions of the Russian avant-garde of the 1920s,” said Julia Tulovsky, associate curator of Russian and Soviet nonconformist art.
However, in order to pursue his artistic journey, he chose to live in a self-imposed exile, away from any art community that might drag him into politics.
Yurlov was born in 1932 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, near the border with China, and studied at Moscow Polygraphic Institute, where he developed a lifelong search for an absolute, or a form, constructed in accordance with universal principles. As early as 1959, Yurlov began experimenting with the concept of a para-form, or a pair of forms, which has significantly defined his artistic path. Throughout his career, he has explored and continues to analyze the endless possibilities of para-forms and their interrelationships, ranging from harmony to conflict. Duality, the union of opposites that underlies the universe, constitutes the deeper meaning of Yurlov’s paintings, drawings and reliefs.
The exhibition was made possible by the Avenir Foundation Endowment Fund.
The public is invited to meet Yurlov, who is based in Moscow, during Art After Hours from 5 to 9 p.m. on April 4. In addi- tion to a discussion with the artist, the evening features an exhibition tour of “In the Search of an Absolute” with Julia Tulovsky and a performance of contemporary Russian music by Mason Gross School of the Arts students.
The Zimmerli Art Museum is located at 71 Hamilton St., at George Street, on the College Avenue campus.
Hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; and the first Wednesday of each month, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults; $5 for adults over 65; and free for museum members, Rutgers students, faculty and staff (with ID), and children under 18. Admission is free on the first Sunday of every month. For more information, visit www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu.