Yuriy
At present Yuri Sultanov works mainly in oils, concentrating on figurative work. His chief interest is in the female form, and there is a strongly erotic element in his work. He experiments with space and shape, combining several viewpoints simultaneously both to show the essence of the form and to deconstruct it. His palette is full of clear bright colours that create their own tension.
Yuri was born in Pervouralsk, a city in the Urals, to the west of Sverdlovsk. From his earliest childhood he was always drawing and so went on to study at Art College.
He changed direction drastically after this by going to technical college where he trained as a welder. However after 1 year working as a welder, he returned to fine art, and, in 1993, he was accepted as a student in the graphics department of the Art College in Nizhniy – Tagil. It was there that he met his wife, Natalya, who is also a very successful artist. He graduated in 1998.
Since 1994, Yuri Sultanov has successfully exhibited his work in Russia and in the west. He won an award in the International Bookplate exhibition in Vilnius, Lithuania in 1997, and gained the third prize the following year.
Natalya
Natalya was born in the city of Serov in the Urals where she attended Art School. In 1993 she went on to study in the graphics department of the Art College in Nizhniy – Tagil, graduating in 1998. She taught art in a small northern town for 6 months, but then married fellow artist, Yuri Sultanov, and together they moved to St Petersburg.
For 3 years she worked in a stained glass workshop, learning to paint on glass, making glass for restoration projects as well as creating original pieces. During this time she began to paint in oils professionally, her work being influenced always by the bright colours of her remembered home landscapes and her glasswork. The Urals is an area of outstanding scenic beauty, as well as containing sparkling minerals such as emeralds and malachite.
Natalya Sutlanova has taken part in exhibitions in Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Britain and France as well as in Russia. Her work is in private collections in Russia, France, Italy, China, Britain and USA.