Grey Cube Gallery proudly presents the third Open online art show for the month of March 2022. The show encompassed a range of artistic styles and mediums (oil on canvas, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, ink, graphite, collage, photography, digital). Each submission has been judged based on the following elements of artistic expression: orginality and quality of art, overall design, creativity, interpretation of the theme, demonstration of artistic ability and usage of medium. Out of all entries, 86 artworks were shortlisted for inclusion in the show. The competition attracted entries from many countries across the world: USA, Spain, Australia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Italy, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and Netherlands. Enjoy the show and thank you for expressing an interest in our competition.

The art I make explores hidden abstract patterns, random shapes, and aesthetic tensions I see in manufactured objects—particularly within the confines of structures and machinery. Using my camera as a sketchbook, I'm constantly looking for subject matter that intrigues me and makes a memorable impression. Then I try to convey the excitement I felt so that the artwork becomes something that resonates emotionally. In this way, the works are sort of abstract compositions found within the confines of realism, and I use this notion to inform my choices of what to present.

I was born in Russia were I studied drawings and paintings at different professional studios, and after emigration to the USA I participated at many juried art exhibitions every year. 20th Century was very bloody for Russia. About 100 million people died during several wars, revolution, Communist (red) terrors, GULAG. hunger, diseases. That were the enormous tragedies. My painting dedicate to that period of Russian history. In 20th Century Russia was under the name of The USSR (Union of Social Socialist Republics) and the State Flag was Red color with sickle and hummer. I chose genius “Black Square” by Kasimir Malevich as the main Russian idea. Canvas had two red squares referenced to color of the State Flag and symbolized the bloody history. Black color of the frame played important role at this painting because in The USSR it was a symbol of mourning.

Midwest Wasteland is an artist duo comprised of School of the Art Institute of Chicago graduate Jeffrey Kaya and avant-guard fashion archive owner Anthony Lagori. Beginning its life as a clothing brand, Midwest Wasteland has evolved into a multidisciplinary art practice focusing on screen-printed flat works and functional sculpture. Drawing on Wasteland's brand inception Kaya and Lagori approach making work much like a clothing label, but explore broader topics such as leisure activities, social interaction, coming-of-age and social standards from a suburban Heartland perspective. The duo manipulates scale, material, contrast between light and shadow, illustration and seriality to create tension for the viewer calling them to ponder their own experiences in relation to the work.

I am a primarily self-taught photographer who migrated from film to digital photography about fifteen years ago. After retiring from a professional management career, I have more actively explored the technical and creative sides of this media. I am attracted to a wide variety of subjects ranging from natural landscapes, botanicals and wildlife to images that provide either abstract expression or social commentary. I am interested in sharing images that evoke a story of some kind. Images may be simply documentary, reflect a sense of time and place, or resonate on a more abstract level of color, shape or form. Others provoke an indefinable question that does not readily yield answers without further study and reflection. Most often I am drawn back to images created while wandering through the back roads and small towns of the upper Midwest. These images of architecture, commerce and social life often reflect a mixture of nostalgia and a changing set of forces that shape life in the heartlands. I have exhibited widely and have earned recognition in local, regional, and national exhibitions. My photographs are also included in several corporate and private collections.