rative and abstract elements through the use of modeling techniques that are juxtaposed with brilliant planes of primary and secondary colors. He is a poet in both visual and literary terms. One is impelled to examine Strizhov's situation from two interrelated points of view: the aesthetic and the political. First, his aesthetics are not calculated so much as given a necessary form of empathy. Put another way, he is not struggling for some aspect of classical form of aesthetics contingent on perfection in the universe of beauty. Rather, he is interested in playfulness, a quality more given to his romantic temperament. Through the process of play he sets up a certain dialectical tension, a force of visual opposites in perpetual tension with each other. This quality of play emerges repeatedly in Strizhov's images as one examines the intricacies in these delightful paintings. One is reminded of the late German critic, Walter Benjamin, who wrote in great seriousness about play, particularly as manifested in children's toys. In his Moscow Diary, Benjamin discusses in aesthet­ic detail how the colors and shapes of these Russian toys capture not only images of the unconscious but also the power of the creative imagination.
Dmitri Strizhov's political story is symptomatic of much that has happened over the past decade in the changing course of world politics. Born in St. Petersburg (then called Leningrad) in 1967, Strizhov witnessed the collapse of the former Communist state when he was in his early twenties. St. Petersburg, its traditional name now restored, remains an important center of Russian cultural history, but Strizhov believed that remaining in that city would not advance his artistic career.
Thus he emigrated to the United States. Although he had established a certain reputation as both a painter and poet, he felt that the provincial aspect of life in Russia was too deeply entrenched in its own history and inflexible standards of taste, not unlike nineteenth-century Vienna. In contrast to St. Petersburg (which Strizhov has painted in his own fanciful way), Vienna was able to generate an aesthetic break from its typically exorbitant decorative, provincial style through the secession movement at the end of the century. The secession happened largely through artists and architects intent on reaching out to other European influences, including the United Kingdom. On the other hand, St. Petersburg, with its flourishing tradition in the plastic arts over the centuries, was less able to relinquish its foothold on history and the embedded aspect of its traditional aesthetics.
Strizhov made the decision to move to the United States in the early nineties, a time when it was relatively easy to make such a transition in one's artistic career. He was young enough to avoid the sentimentality and concomitant resentment of looking back at his Russian past. Instead, he began reconstructing an identity for himself in New York. While energetic work played an important role in Strizhov's career, one cannot ignore his emotional will, his shrewd intelligence, and his ability to seize opportunities. In 1990 the time was right.
The artist took advantage of this moment in Russian history to move into a new situation. Despite America's emphasis on commercial values (an emphasis not entirely antithetical to many Russians), it was here that he found a democratic platform on which to stand and a place to work where art did not stand still. In August 2005 Strizhov decided to return back to the motherland, which obviously has changed throuout these years he was away. However, Strizhov still visits New York on regular basis.