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 , United Kingdom 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 and Oil Pastel Society, USA.
Sterlikova’s works are in private collections in UK, USA, France, Germany, China, Russia.
Luba may be contacted at: luba@erols.com
Participated in more than 60 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
2004,2003 - ‘MOCA Darlings’, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art , Washington , DC
2004,2002 - Russian Cultural Center, Washington DC
2003 – ‘IASG for the 300 th Anniversary of St.Petersburg’, EGO Gallery, St.Petersburg , Russia , catalogue with essay by Ken Oda
2003 – ‘ Shanghai Art Fair Gallery Invitational Exhibition’, Art Museum, Shanghai , China
2003 - 24 Salon International Artistique de Haute-Loire, Le Puy-en-Velay , France
2003 – ‘Sensual Images’, The Art and Antique Collectors Gallery, Brunswick , MD
2003 – ‘Love & Eroticism’, Khoja Gallery, Arlington , VA
2002 – ‘IASG in China ’, Tsinghua University Art Center , Beijing , China , catalogue
2002 – ‘Luminous palette’, Russian Cultural Center , Washington , DC
2002 –‘Bella Femmina’, Sabine Rose Gallery , Doylstown PA
2002,2000,1999 – ‘IASG in India ’, Lalit Kala Akademy of Arts, New Delhi , India , catalogue with essay by Keshav Malik
2001 - International Art Fair, Shanghai , China
1998 - Washington Design Center , DC
1998, 1999 – solo shows at, Yellow Barn Gallery , MD
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
PERIODICALS:
- Art Calendar, magazine, July-August 2004 (cover)
- ‘Shanghai Star’, weekly newspaper, China, March 4 -10, 2004
- Capital Style, magazine, USA, May 1998
- Greater Washington, magazine, USA , # 1, 1999
- Greater Washington, magazine, USA , # 4, 1998
TV Appearances:
- Russian Journal, Fairfax cable TV, 1999
- Window on the World, Voice of America, 2004
Magazine Ads:
- ArtNews, March 2001
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