Proverbs
Photography by Gregori Maiofis

Saturday, April 26 2008 From 5:30pm-8:00pm

IN HIS OWN WORDS: Gregori Maiofis was born in 1970 in St. Petersburg, Russia in an environment where it would have been difficult to ignore the clamor of the visual. Two generations of artists before him furnished his childhood with images. His father is the well-known Russian graphic artist and book illustrator, Mikhail Maiofis, and his grandparents, Olga Ugriumova and Solomon Maiofis, are architects.

As long as he can remember, he has been drawing, completing his first etching at the age of seven. Throughout his childhood, his father guided his efforts and development. Under his eye, Gregori learned to draw and began to devise purely imaginary compositions. Everyday objects, literary impressions and a whole variety of graphic techniques available in father's studio became the raw materials of his earliest endeavors.

In 1986 during the last year of high school Gregori began taking academic drawing and painting lessons from the artist, Ivan Gurin, whose system of teaching relied on close study of the old masters, a circumstance which has in many ways determined the character of his work. When he continued his formal training at the Repin Fine Arts Academy in St. Petersburg, he devoted his attention to copying from favorite artists as well as to making extensive studies of live models. Yet, after two years as an art student, he decided to leave the Academy in order to pursue independent projects and to shift his focus to oil painting. A media he had never attempted before.

In 1989 Gregori's family decided to move to the United States, a year commonly characterized as a turning point, since it became clear about then that the collapse of the Soviet Union was only a matter of time. For Gregori, the last two years before their departure marked the beginning of what he considers his "real" artistic activity, since it was then that he created his first series of works.

His arrival in the United States in 1991 stimulated an awareness of issues and considerations that still occupy him to the present day. He would even go so far as to say that his formation as an artist took place in the United States, since many or his current concerns were determined by concepts and positions that were developed after his departure from Russia. Then again, geographic location is perhaps not as critical a factor in his work and thought process as it once was. The lessening of barriers between the two countries in recent years has enabled Gregori to work while sharing his time between Los Angeles and St. Petersburg.

About the De Santos Gallery
The De Santos Gallery, designed by architect Fernando Brave, is owned and directed by Luis and Gemma de Santos, who are natives of Spain and long-time residents of Houston. The De Santos Gallery specializes in photography (including traditional and new media) from contemporary European and Asian photographers including Anna Halm-Schudel, Roman Loranc, Sang-Nam Park, and Kimiko Yoshida. The gallery also has work available by North American and Latin American artists: Clyde Butcher, Linda Butler, and Edgar Moreno among others.

DeSantos Gallery provides innovative ideas about photography, while maintaining an outstanding reputation for integrity and customer satisfaction.   The gallery is owned and directed by Luis and Gemma DeSantos, natives of Spain and   long-time residents of Houston.  

The De Santos Gallery is located at 1724-A Richmond Avenue at Dunlavy Street in the museum district of Houston. Gallery hours are: Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; we are closed on Mondays. For information, please call Carlos DeSantos at  713-520-1200 or visit  us online at www.desantosgallery.com