About The Dancing Elephant
There comes a moment in life when seemingly disparate events, efforts and visions come together to form a whole, like pieces of a puzzle that create a unified picture. The Dancing Elephant is the intersection of two creative paths; that of an artist and a musician. It represents the body of work of oil painter Alexander Volkov and pianist-composer Heidi Breyer. It is a gallery and performance space combined.
Owner, Heidi Breyer seeks to create a unique space for visitors to enjoy art on a daily basis and monthly musical performances through a carefully curated concert series.
About Alexander
There is mystery and longing in the heart of Alexander Volkov’s paintings. In his depictions of a mythic and timeless rural America there is a world full of change where the past meets the present, nature takes over from man, day turns into night and the seasons seem always to be sliding one into another. The power of these haunting scenes is their ability to draw the viewer into an imaginary yet familiar landscape or environment, where time moves more slowly and the distractions and irritation of modern life are unknown.
Alexander says of his work:
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“There is no greater mystery to me than the conflict of light and darkness. In the way they clash and penetrate each other, there is the source of everything. Whether I paint a landscape, a still-life or a portrait, within it there is always a story of light traveling through darkness.”
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In the early 1970’s Alexander began painting with oils as a high school student in St. Petersburg Russia continuing throughout his study of Physics at the Department of Leningrad State University. In 1989 he immigrated to America and in stark contrast to the cityscapes and views of the rooftops of St.Petersburg, he began painting the beauty of rural America, the place he has now regarded as home for over 30 years.
He reluctantly refers to himself as a self-taught artist saying,
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“If you want to learn, you will always find someone to learn from; Be they dead or alive, great or unknown. You will learn from everything you see and hear around you – if you are willing to pay attention. Perhaps, during my formative years, I have made a lot of unnecessary mistakes, but at the same time I have had the enormous advantage of picking my own teachers”
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…and they have included ; William Turner, Franz Hals, Rembrandt, Edward Hopper, Maxfield Parrish and Andrew Wyeth, Beethoven, Satie, Nabokov and Steinbeck, Einstein and Tarkovsky. They were university friends, physics professors and struggling artists. An important facet of Alexander’s subject matter is born out of collaboration with those who commission him to paint their inspiration. These relationships are unique and critical to Alexander’s artistic landscape and he finds great joy and depth in furnishing each collector with their very own vision.
Alexander lives in Frenchtown, NJ with his life partner - composer and owner of the Dancing Elephant -Heidi Breyer. They have a collective brood of 5 adult children and one adorable grandson!
About Heidi
Heidi Breyer is an award-winning contemporary composer, educated at Trinity College of Music in London, UK. Over the past 15 years Breyer has written 100 piano and piano instrumental works, spanning 6 albums, including Moonlight in Empty Rooms which is a musical study of the art of Alexander Volkov.
The Dancing Elephant is Breyer's latest project that further explores the interplay of art and music. Open to the public Wed-Sunday the gallery will also begin hosting monthly salon style musical offerings in the Fall. These will feature award winning instrumental and vocal artists; Breyer's colleagues who have journeyed musically with her over the years.
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