Serguei Zlenko

Painter, Helsingfors, Finland

Born in the Republic of Georgia, Serguei Zlenko graduated first from the Russian Art Academy’s Art School and later received a Bachelor and Master of Fine Art from the Moscow Surikov Art Academy. A member of both the Russian and Finnish Artists’ Associations, he is featured in galleries and collections in Finland, and throughout Europe and the United States. A classically trained artist, Serguei draws inspiration from a great magnitude of subjects, resulting in his painting a wide range of themes. His work encompasses detailed topographical studies, ballet rehearsals and performances, metaphorical figurative works, and the occurrences and characters surrounding him. Most of his painting activity focuses on the use of oils on canvas or board, although he often works in watercolor, pastel and clay. His mastery of every technique affords him an overall creativity in each genre. Out of his huge artistic corpus, we can begin by highlighting his figurative paintings, with which his work is often preoccupied. In his portraits as well as in his studies of dancers, he has cultivated a complete objectivity, attempting to catch his subjects in poses as natural and spontaneous as those recorded in action photographs. Extensive academic instruction in figurative and life studies has led him to experiment with unusual visual angles and asymmetrical compositions. By capturing the action of the moment, his ballet dancers are depicted in poses that do not attempt to conceal their physical exertions. Instead, he reveals both the concentration and potency necessary in each performance, whilst drawing attention to the dancers’ elegance and regal poise.