Yuri Dvornik

Iouri Khamitov, nom de plume Yuri Dvornik, was born in 1947 in Vladikavkaz City, Russia. He attended the Moscow School of Art to study painting and art restoration. He worked as a restorer for a time "giving new life to old paintings". He also trained as an architectural designer. Dvornik's paintings are realistic in style and yet idealist in subject matter. There is no political struggle or turmoil illustrated in these paintings, only the serene streets themselves.

In 1976, he became a member of the Union of Russian Artists, the famed Soviet sponsorship that was highly sought after during the Soviet rule. Because of his opposition to the political system of the Soviet Union at the time, the KGB cancelled his membership and he was forced into artistic seclusion for 16 years. He was unable to show his paintings in any of the sponsored exhibitions.

To help support himself through this hardship he became a street cleaner in the streets of Moscow. He continued to paint, using the new found pen name Dvornik, which in Russia means street cleaner. He used his experience as a street worker to create his new style and subject matter. The sunwashed streets, with charming doorways, arches, restaurant fronts, and murals depicted in his work invite the viewer to place themselves among those visually stimulating streets. He turned his own misfortune into a beautiful urban landscape, using the unfortunate circumstances of his own life as inspiration for his paintings. He recreated himself while at the same time recreating his city in the eyes of its masses.

Dvornik's paintings are realistic in style and yet idealist in subject matter. There is no political struggle or turmoil illustrated in these paintings, only the serene streets themselves. Through the cleansing of his canvases and his identity, Dvornik's career began anew. He started selling his paintings and organizing shows in Izmalov Park. As perestroyka set in Dvornik became more involved with promoting shows to benefit the victims of Chernobyl and handicapped children throughout Russia. He has since had exhibitions of his work throughout Europe and in Greece.

Since his arrival in the United States, Gallery Revel has sponsored this outstanding artist. This exposure has fostered the creation of an international private collector base. Dvornik has had two solo shows in New York at Gallery Revel since 1993, the first in 1996 and then in 1999. Both shows were well received by his ever growing audience.