'Timur Akhriev: New Work'

By Ann Nichols

Arts Writer

Timur Akhriev was a teenager when he immigrated to Chattanooga to live with his father, Daud, and stepmother, Melissa Hefferlin. However, his skill as an artist was extraordinary and belied his age.

Now, 10 years later, his work has evolved to an even more professional level, and visitors to the Association for Visual Arts Gallery this week can see his most recent body of work.

Beginning Friday, about 15 oil paintings and several gouaches will be on display in Akhriev's solo exhibition. Many of the images have been inspired by his travels to Switzerland, Spain and Maine during the past three months.

Akhriev is known for his exquisite still lifes, landscapes and paintings of architectural structures. He says he doesn't have a favorite subject matter because he finds something interesting wherever he goes.

"I can be in Spain and look at the endless fields of olive groves or in Maine where the fall has the brightest, most colorful landscapes," Akhriev said.

In Tennessee, he says everything turns purple in the winter, but the spring brings grass so green that it is hard to find a color for it.

The old, rustic villages that have been preserved in Switzerland intrigue him, too.

Akhriev was born in 1983 in Vladikavkaz, Russia. At age 12, he moved to St. Petersburg and attended a middle and high school where many of the instructors also taught at the Repin Academy of Fine Arts. He received private tutoring from Nikita Fomin also.

After graduating, he came to Chattanooga and attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and later studied at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy and with Charles Cecil at the Charles Cecil Studios of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture.

Akhriev spends six to nine months in Chattanooga each year and travels the rest of the time. His extensive education, the influence of his father and his travels have all contributed to the evolution of Akhriev's style during the past decade.

"My style has changed from more explanation to a more notational way of painting," he said.

The exhibition will remain on display through Dec. 17. A reception will be held on Nov. 4 from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

AVA, 30 Frazier Ave., is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Call 265-4282 for more information.

Email Ann Nichols at annsnichols@aol.com.