Victor Bregeda Artist

OverviewVictor Bregeda is a prominent, visual artist recognized for his unique meta-realistic style of painting. Bregeda was born into a family of painters in 1963 in Taganrog, Russia. The artist states that he has been painting for as long as he can remember.After attending art school in Russia, Bregeda made a decision to move forward with his personal interpretation of creative art, putting himself in sharp contrast with his academic art training. This rebellious move proved victorious as Victor’s art quickly gained recognition in local and international contests. In early 2000, Victor’s career took a new turn when he was invited to promote his work in the U.S. His first art show, in Hawaii, became an instant success. Since then, Bregeda’s art has been gaining steady prominence in the international art scene.Visiting a Bregeda exhibition can be an overwhelming experience. His paintings pack so much content and expression that they require extra time and attention for processing. Each artwork is a unique, philosophical journey that often combines hidden clues and multiple storylines. Some paintings appear as riddles with concealed imagery that take observers on a quest to solve them. The artist often provides accompanying descriptions to his visual stories but insists that they should remain open-ended to a viewer’s interpretation.Bregeda has been particularly recognized for his contribution to contemporary Christian art, resulting in the ongoing solo exhibition at the Museum of Biblical Art in Dallas, TX. His best-selling artwork, The Eucharist, became first in the series of paintings representing Christian symbolism. Other pieces include images of the Last Supper, Jesus and the idea of divine love.FollowersVictor Bregeda has a faithful following of fans around the world that is constantly growing. Many art collectors who discover Victor’s art become instantly “hooked” on Bregeda’s unique style, and they keep coming back to experience more of their favorite art.Some of Bregeda’s famous collectors include: Carlos Santana, Pink Floyd, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks, Oscar De La Hoya, Burt Reynolds, Connie Seleca, and John Tesh.Artistic Statement"The key genres of my artwork are plein aire landscapes, still life compositions and portraits performed in a meta-realistic style, with strong roots in subconscious philosophy. I use a variety of techniques and materials while trying to invent new ones. I attempt to reveal the true nature of things hidden from empirical understanding.I have been particularly influenced by the smooth techniques espoused by the Dutch school of painting. The artists who inspired me the most were: Leonardo Da Vinci, Hieronymus Bosch, Peter Bruegel, Max Ernst, and Nikolai Rerikh. I like the French school of the 18th – 19th centuries as well as the works of Andrew Wyeth. I grew up in a strong creative environment. My artistic abilities are in my blood, thanks to my forefathers."Personal LifeVictor Bregeda is married to his wife, Olga. He currently lives in Russia, while frequently traveling to the United States to promote his art. Victor often spends extended time in Hawaii-the place he considers his second home. Bregeda enjoys exploring new international scenes and pushing his artistic creativity to new levels.Creative StyleVictor Bregeda has been often compared to Salvador Dalí and other masters of the Surrealistic Genre. Victor positions his work in the meta-realism style with some elements of surrealism. In comparison to meta-realism, surrealism was a much broader cultural movement widely popular in the early and mid 20th century. Meta-realism can be viewed as a later Russian offshoot of surrealism with respect to the imaginative visual style. The key difference is that meta-realism primarily appeals to the superconscious - in Victor’s case strong God’s influence - while surrealism was heavily influenced by subconscious expression.Meta-realism is a direction in Russian art and poetry that was born in the 1970s to the 1980s. The term was first used by Mikhail Epshtein, who coined it in 1981 and made it public. "Meta" means both "through" and "beyond" the reality that we all can see; hence, "meta-realism" is the realism of the hyperphysical nature of things. The main expression of its essence is given through a non-visual metaphor or, according to another Epshtein's term, a "metabola" (rather than hyperbole), that means "transfer" or "transition," opening many dimensions. "Metabola" is different from the symbol or a "visual" metaphor, because it assumes the interosculation of realities.Recent Museum ExhibitionsDuring April 2014-present, the Museum of Biblical Art, the MBA, in Dallas, TX has featured a private collection of Victor Bregeda paintings from the early and recent periods. The MBA has a simple mission: to display art with a Biblical theme. Nothing of its size exists in the United States, making it a treasure trove for art enthusiasts. Featured exhibits have included: the Marc Chagall Exhibit, the artworks of John Singer Sargent, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, named Texas Tourism’s Attraction of the Year. In November-December 2014, Victor Bregeda presented his most recent collection of paintings at the Museum of Russian Art in NJ. Since its founding in 1980, the Museum of Russian Art (MORA) has been paramount to the introduction of Russian art to American audiences. With its core collection largely culled from human rights activist Alexander Glezer’s private holdings, the museum’s collection during its formative years was on a par only with that of Norton Dodge for that time. Throughout the 1980s and early 90s, notable artists first exhibited outside Russia at MoRA including Skate’s 5000 notables, Erik Bulatov, Alexander Kharitonov, Dmitry Krasnopevtsev, Evgeny Kropivnitsky, Lidia Masterkova, Vladimir Nemukhin, Ernst Neizvestny—the canon of late Soviet painting today.Artistic ThemesRomance - Victor Bregeda is known and adored by his fans around the world for his artistic visions of love and romance. As with all Bregeda paintings, the scenes present multidimensional views of storytelling with skillfully concealed imagery.Contemplations is the collection of remarkable meta-realistic paintings by Victor Bregeda. They go beyond traditional art styles and often combine the elements of still life, landscape and portraits in one composition. Each of these abstract artworks is a unique philosophical journey that will appeal to tastes of even most sophisticated viewers.Christianity is a subject with a special place in Bregeda’s art. The Eucharist series has become the signature card of famous Bregeda paintings with Biblical symbolism. Victor depicts dramatic expressions of Christian faith through the masterful collage of surrealistic elements and techniques.Sketches - After many years of painting exclusively on canvas, Victor revisited the time of his youth when he used to create many kinds of pencil drawings and caricatures.