Russian born, Luba
Sterlikova currently resides in the US and is known to the artistic community
as LUBA. Both Russian and American influences can be detected in her
work, as the Eastern vivid colors blend symbiotically with more Western shapes
and structure.
Her work is often compared
to that of American icon Georgia O’Keefe, but Luba’s passionate approach is
undeniably her own. Keshav Malik, Indian art critic, called Luba’s work ’a
juicy genre, as rich as Keats, the poet’s fruity poems.’ The artist’s
interest goes beyond stylizing natural forms. Rather, Luba explores shape and
color to evoke in each composition an expression that is both provocative and
poignant. Characterized as intense and exotic, Luba’s floral compositions strike
a balance between the bold and the graceful; they are simultaneously intense and
delicate. Luba’s work has been referred to as provocative and sexually
charged, although she prefers to call it romantic.
Her now famous floral
impressionism series, is complimented by still life images of fruit and
vegetables such as plums, apricots, eggplant and squash, produced in the same
stylized manner as the sybaritic botanical subjects. In a controversial
incident, she was asked to remove some of her sensually-themed works from a
major corporation for fear of sexual harassment lawsuits. The episode only
served to render Luba’s work more collectible and much in demand.
She uses oil pastel, a
medium not widely explored by the artists, charcoal and oil.
Luba is active on the
Washington, DC art scene, and for many years has been involved with
International Artist Support Group (IASG) and WPA/Corcoran, Washington, DC,USA.
She has been exhibited internationally, including USA, China, France, India and
Russia.
Since 2004, Sterlikova is associate
academician of Academia Internazionale "GRECI-MARINO", Italy. The same year she
became a member of International Federation of Artists & National Artist's Union
of Russia. Ms. Sterlikova is a member of L’Association Pour la Promotion des
Artistes et des Createurs, Paris, France.
Sterlikova’s works are in private
collections in UK, USA, France, Germany, China, Russia.
Participated in more than
50 solo and group shows. Major exhibits include:
2005 – ‘Form & Colour’, Gallery West-Eleven, London, UK
2004 – ‘100 oeuvres d'artistes expriment le Bonheur’,
St Martin, Paris, France, catalogue
2004 - Women Artists Show: Art From the Other Side of the Pacific,
Shanghai, China
2004 – Vision Gallery, Washington, DC
2004 – ‘Shape & Color’, APEX Gallery, Washington, DC
2004,2001 - Shanghai International Art
Fair, Shanghai, China
2004 –‘International Women Artists’, The Grand Theater Gallery, Shanghai, China,
catalogue
2004 – “Women in the Arts’, Latin American Art Museum, Miami, FL, catalogue
2004, 2003 – ‘ Unseen Eros on Potomac IV’, Washington, DC
BOOKS:
Artistas por el Forum de las Culturas, Barcelona, Spain, 2004
2004-2005 WPA/Corcoran Artist Directory,2004
The Artists Bluebook 2004, USA, 2004
Dizionario Enciclopedico Internazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea,
2003-2004 (Encyclopedic Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art), Casa
Editrice Alba, Italy, 2003
’21 Artistas Contemporaneos para el Silgo 21’ (’21 Contemporary Artists for the
21 Century’), Biblioteca de Artistas de Las Comunidades Europeas’, Spain, 2003
2003 WPA/Corcoran Artist Directory, 2003
Living Artists, ArtNetwork, USA, 2003
New Art International, Book Art Press, USA 2001