Alexander Savchenko
Alexander Savchenko (born in 1956) lives in the center of Veliky Novgorod with a cat named the Holy Goddess (according to him, this is what Romeo called Juliet). The artist is rarely visited by his family members, but he has a wide circle of acquaintances: from models to priests, from vagabonds to cooks of field kitchens for the poor people. Despite his age, vision impairment and financial difficulties, he often travels to St. Petersburg, Moscow and other cities to show his art and visit holy places and exhibitions.
Savchenko used to work at a factory, studied to be a director at a cultural education school and after that got a job as a carpenter in a restoration workshop. In 2002, he decided to become an "ideal" artist and went to classes at the Museum of Nonconformist Art in St. Petersburg, but soon left them: after all, his original artistic vision prevented him from mastering the basics of academic painting. Later, Alexander joined the Free Culture partnership, an organization uniting more than 200 artists, musicians and other creative people. He sometimes gets invitations to participate in their collective exhibitions. The artist is supported by Outsiderville NGO.
Savchenko mainly works in oils on paper technique, combining the two incompatible materials. Oil paints are designed for art created for centuries, and paper reduces the ambition for greatness. The paper is fragile, the oil leaves greasy stains on it, but Alexander is not embarrassed by the minor inaccuracy. The most important thing for him is to convey an impression, which makes him akin to the impressionist painters. and the freedom and "wildness" of images he takes from the expressionists. Although he works in different genres, the most impressive are his images of women - especially nude. It is in these works the artist allows himself the greatest courage of artistic expression. And, despite the grotesque nature of some of the images, one can feel that he is fascinated by his models.
Personal exhibitions of Savchenko were held at the Museum of Nonconformist Art (St. Petersburg, 2002, 2015), the House of Folk Art (Veliky Novgorod, 2005, 2010), the Museum of Russian Lubok and Naive Art (Moscow, 2019). The artist took part in collective exhibitions and festivals at the Manege Central Exhibition Hall (St. Petersburg, 2004, 2005, 2009), the Museum of Nonconformist Art (St. Petersburg, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011), the Volgograd Museum of Fine Arts named after I.I. Mashkov (2021), at the Outsider Art Fair (Paris, France, 2019).
Savchenko used to work at a factory, studied to be a director at a cultural education school and after that got a job as a carpenter in a restoration workshop. In 2002, he decided to become an "ideal" artist and went to classes at the Museum of Nonconformist Art in St. Petersburg, but soon left them: after all, his original artistic vision prevented him from mastering the basics of academic painting. Later, Alexander joined the Free Culture partnership, an organization uniting more than 200 artists, musicians and other creative people. He sometimes gets invitations to participate in their collective exhibitions. The artist is supported by Outsiderville NGO.
Savchenko mainly works in oils on paper technique, combining the two incompatible materials. Oil paints are designed for art created for centuries, and paper reduces the ambition for greatness. The paper is fragile, the oil leaves greasy stains on it, but Alexander is not embarrassed by the minor inaccuracy. The most important thing for him is to convey an impression, which makes him akin to the impressionist painters. and the freedom and "wildness" of images he takes from the expressionists. Although he works in different genres, the most impressive are his images of women - especially nude. It is in these works the artist allows himself the greatest courage of artistic expression. And, despite the grotesque nature of some of the images, one can feel that he is fascinated by his models.
Personal exhibitions of Savchenko were held at the Museum of Nonconformist Art (St. Petersburg, 2002, 2015), the House of Folk Art (Veliky Novgorod, 2005, 2010), the Museum of Russian Lubok and Naive Art (Moscow, 2019). The artist took part in collective exhibitions and festivals at the Manege Central Exhibition Hall (St. Petersburg, 2004, 2005, 2009), the Museum of Nonconformist Art (St. Petersburg, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011), the Volgograd Museum of Fine Arts named after I.I. Mashkov (2021), at the Outsider Art Fair (Paris, France, 2019).