Granby’s Alexander Anisimov is truly a master-of-all-trades artist. From crafting mosaics to painting with oil, from drawing in ink or graphite to collecting driftwood, Anisimov can take the world around us and create thoughtful art pieces.
To Anisimov, being an artist is “just intrinsic.” Exposed to art since a young age, Anisimov has honed his techniques in a variety of mediums—for instance, at the age of 9, he learned how to do darkroom photography from scratch. “I was probably in third grade,” he laughs, “and mixing [chemicals] in the bathroom.” His father, Yuriy Anisimov, was a renowned inlay artist, and as a result, Anisimov has been around artists all his life.
Prior to moving to the United States in 1991, he had already established himself as a true artistic force in Russia. At the age of 20, he met the distinguished painter Ilya Glazunov at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. In the museum basement, Anisimov worked on copying the art housed there in order to teach himself new skills.
Beyond his four years of traditional training in the College of Fine Arts, Anisimov was influenced by his conscription into the Russian army. “I traveled giant distances and I saw a lot of different nationalities, different people,” he notes. The army brought him to the Russian-China border, Japan, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan, where he was exposed to Muslim and Indian cultures. “I saw what art meant for them. It was awesome,” shares Anisimov, “[I learned] what they value in art.” He likens the Muslim murals covering the walls and ceilings of dwellings to the Irish arabesque style, where everything is part of a colorful and intertwined network.
The idea of an intertwined network is central to Anisimov’s work. Walking through nature, he might find himself asking, “Who planted this tree?” Contemplating the world around us connects us not only to previous stewards of the land, but nature itself. “If you start asking questions, it’s like a network of our life,” he observes, “You think you are separate from nature …[but] you are nature. You’re part of it. You are born out of it.” To Anisimov, humanity is inextricably a part of nature.
Anisimov creates much of his art out in nature. As he says, his studio is “everywhere!” He works outside through storms, rain and snow. “The storms are beautiful!” he proclaims, “The best ideas you get are in the storm. It’s extreme, and you’re cold sometimes, but you know it’s not going to last for days … when you throw yourself in the discomfort, just for a couple hours, it’s beneficial.”
Working outside in extreme cold has allowed Anisimov to experience situations most artists do not. He tells of working outside in the extreme cold in Afghanistan’s mountains one winter, where the paint started to freeze. In this state, he was able to create unique texture effects, using a palette knife, that could not be accomplished at room temperature.
Anisimov’s vast array of life experiences, from painting in rural Afghani mountains to painting murals at local pizza shops, gave him a wealth of knowledge. To him, training to be an artist “is lifelong.” Throughout his life, he has returned to paintings he completed years ago with new eyes, sometimes adding new paint strokes here and more color there. Apart from being talented in a multitude of mediums, he has also taught himself how to stretch his own canvases and make his own frames.
More recently, Anisimov has started learning about bitcoin and accepting bitcoin as payment for artwork. His upcoming free exhibition, Colours of Life, which runs from May 3 to June 2 at the Granby Art Gallery at 2 Park Place, will be the first in Connecticut to accept bitcoin. Bitcoin reminds Anisimov of a barter system he was part of nearly 20 years ago in Connecticut. Murals he painted at pizza shops and car service shops would be paid for with credit for services at that location. For instance, Anisimov remembers painting the mural at the old Goomba’s Pasta and Pizza in Granby. For his work, he was compensated by having a running tab, up to $250 worth of pizza. To Anisimov, bitcoin operates on a similar principle. “It’s the same, like money,” he says.
In regard to the upcoming exhibition, Anisimov has been experimenting with new techniques and subjects. He likes to mix and match in order to make the gallery more interesting to attendees. One of his inspirations is surf fishing in Rhode Island, where the waves beat against the rocks at night. “Our blood is kind of the same rhythm … Your blood is pumping. And it’s like watching waves, it’s a close rhythm. And you’re like, why am I so fascinated? Because your rhythm and the other rhythm [matches up].” Anisimov’s vast portfolio of landscape, portrait and abstract artwork is available online at alexanderanisimovstudio.com; his art can also be viewed in person at the Granby Art Gallery at 2 Park Place.
Photo of Anisimov at work submitted by artist.