ALEXANDER(SASHA) GASSEL

SUMMARY:

Alexander Gassel was born in Moscow, USSR in 1947. He graduated from Moscow Institute of Arts and Graphics in 1970 with an MA in Fine Arts. From 1970 to 1980, he worked at the Grabar Center for the Restoration and Preservation of Art in Moscow, restoring and copying medieval tempera paintings. Influenced by this experience, the artist began to create his own original paintings – for the most part personal interpretations of Biblical events. At that time, it was absolutely forbidden in the Soviet Union to exhibit contemporary religious paintings. In 1980, Alexander Gassel left the USSR to start a new life in the USA.

Alexander Gassel has been using an ancient technique: egg yolk tempera. He makes his own color pigments by grinding natural stones and minerals, such as malachite, cinnabar, or lapis into powder, which he then mixes with egg yolk. The artist often applies gold or silver leaf on the paintings. Based on traditional Russian artistic values, his new art works often employ a surrealistic combination of details from different civilizations. Old symbols are joined with contemporary subjects, reflecting more and more his new experience of life in America.

EDUCATION:

1975-1976 Stroganoff Art Graduate School. Department of Art History. Moscow, USSR

1970-1971 Grabar Restoration and Conservation Center of Russia. Moscow, USSR

1965-1970 Institute of Arts and Graphics. Moscow, USSR (Degree: MA)

PAINTINGS IN MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:

• VATICAN COLLECTION Vatican City, Vatican
• SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER Los Angeles, CA
• RYAZAN ART MUSEUM Ryazan, Russia
• KIRILLOV ART MUSEUM Kirillov, Russia
• JEWISH FEDERATION Marblehead, MA
• EPISCOPAL DIVINITY SCHOOL Cambridge, MA
• ST. LEO PARISH Stamford, CT
• ST. ANDREW CHURCH Marblehead, MA

A large number of paintings, prints and drawings are in private collections in the USA, Germany, France, Netherlands, Russia, Israel and other countries.

AWARDS:

1990 Modern Liturgy Visual Arts Award

1990 Massachusetts Artists Fellowship Program. Painting Award Recipient. Finalist

1989 Curator’s Award. National Competition “In Search of the American Experience” Museum of National Arts Foundation, New York, NY

PRESS REVIEWS ABOUT THE ARTIST:

*TV show RTNWMNB NY, NY, Oct.16 2003

*Number of TV shows about the artist . WNDS NH. AXXESS TV Salem MA,

*Boston TV station, Marblehead TV station, 1994 - 1996

*Twelve Gates to the City, Chrysalis books, Swedenborg Foundation, West Chester, PA.1996

*Harmony of Paradise, Moscow Tribune, November 18, 1992

*Alexander Gassel in Moscow, 2 programs, National Television, Moscow, Russia, Nov. 1992

*Twelve Years Later, Interview with Alexander Gassel in Moscow, Radio Moscow, Nov. 1992

*Biblical Subjects in the House of Arts, Commersant Daily, N. 27, November 11, 1992

*Russian Artists in Boston, Art of New England, January 1992

*Hopes of Life in the Eternity of Colors, Panorama, January 1991

*European Icons in Duxbury, Boston Globe, December 9, 1990

*The Visual Arts Awards 1990: Permanent Category, Modern Liturgy, September 1990

*SovietArtists Display Wide Range of Work, Boston Globe, January 14, 1990

*Art Program, Voice of America, Washington D. C., December 1988

*Alexander Gassel at Walker Ursitti, Washington Post, December 1988

*Art Program, Radio Canada Toronto, Canada, December 1987

*Art Program, Voice of America, Washington D. C., April 1987

MAJOR EXHIBITIONS:

2002 Multicultural Art Center. Cambridge, MA

2001 Gloucester Gallery, Marblehead, MA

2001 St. Anthony Shrine, Boston, MA

2000 JFS of North Shore, Lynn, MA

2000 Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA

1998 Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA

1998 Rosen Museum Gallery, Boca Raton, FL

1996 Gallery at the AXXESS TV. Salem, MA

1995 Starr Gallery, Newton, MA

1994 Art Connection Gallery, Clearwater Beach, FL

1993 Gallery at the Russian-American Cultural Center, Boston, MA

1992 Solo Exhibition. Central House of the Arts. Moscow, Russia

1991 Solo Exhibition. Clark University, Worchester, MA

1990 Russian Icons from Museum Collection and Alexander Gassel Spiritual Paintings. Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA

1990 Exhibition of Award Recipients of the Massachusetts Fellowship Program. MA

1990 Solo Exhibition, Harvard Boston Community. Starr Gallery, Newton, MA

1990 National Competition”in Search of the American Experience” of the Museum of National Arts Foundation” New York, NY.“ Curator’s Award Winner.

1988 Solo Exhibition. The Walker, Ursitti & McGinnis Gallery, Washington, D. C.

1988 Eighth National Open Jured Art Exhibit “Contemporary Spiritual Art” Paul VI Institute for the Arts, Washington, D. C.

1987 Exhibition of Artists dedicated to the 20 th anniversary of the Berlin Wall City Hall, West Berlin, Germany

1987 “Die Gruppe Terpentin,” Gallery Interartex, Mettmann, Germany

1987 “Twelve Russian Ambitions,” Gallery Hittite, Toronto, Canada

1986 “Four Russian Artists,” Multicultural Art Center, Cambridge, MA

1985 Two solo Exhibitions, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA

1982 Solo Exhibition, Eisenhower College, Utica, NY

Copyright © 2005 Alexander Gassel. All rights reserved.