Nina Vetrova-Robinson: Paintings from the Ukrainian Avant-Garde Tradition
Iowa Artisans Gallery hosts the exhibit, Nina Vetrova-Robinson: Paintings from the Ukrainian Avant-Garde Tradition, January 20- February 26, 2012.
Born in Kiev, Nina Vetrova-Robinson's paintings speak to the tradition of Ukrainian abstract Avant-Garde painting of the early 20th Century. After starting her art career in 2001, Vetrova-Robinson exhibited 24 paintings in "Avant-garde Adventures, " held in 2004 at the National Art Museum of Ukraine. In 2005 she was included in the Modern Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Her work is also included in the National Art Museum of Ukraine as well as the Institute of Modern Russian Culture, in various online art exhibition and compilations, and in private collections both here and abroad.
Vetrova-Robinson's background includes two well-known Ukrainian painters; she is the granddaughter of Vadym Meller and Nina Genke-Meller. Her grandfather was a Ukrainian-Russian painter, avant-garde Cubist and Constructivist artist who also engaged in theatrical design, book illustration and architecture. He was the first artist to be awarded a gold medal in the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes (Art Deco) in Paris in 1925. Vetrova-Robinson’s grandmother, Nina Genke-Meller helped found the Verbovka Village Folk Centre in the Ukrainian province of Kiev, where local craft artisans made carpets, pillows, shawls and belts using the designs of some of the foremost Russian avant-garde artists of the day. She also served as an artist and graphic designer, notably for “Golfstream,” the publishing house led by Ukrainian poet-Futurist Mykhail Semenko. A resident of Cedar Rapids, Vetrova-Robinson moved to the US with her American-born husband in 1993.
Daily hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10am-6pm; Thursday’s “Downtown Shopping Night” 10am – 7pm; Saturday 10am-5:30pm and Sunday 12-4pm.
