I recently had the privilege to meet Meyer Uranovsky, a masterful painter, born in Cape Town, South Africa, to Russian émigré parents. Meyer studied at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town, and afterwards worked as a graphic designer in Johannesburg and London. In 1966, he was awarded the Cape Salon Prize, and later that year held his first solo show at the Wolpe Gallery, Cape Town. He won numerous prestigious awards, including the Grand Prix International d’artes Plastiques, and another to study at Hayter’s Atelier 17 in Paris. He subsequently exhibited in Paris and Nice in various galleries. Meyer has exhibited in New York galleries, in many one man shows. In 2008, he held a solo exhibition at the Galerie Celal, rue St. Honore, Paris. Most recently, he has participated in the 40th Anniversary Exhibition at Die Kunskamer, Cape Town.
Meyer Uranovsky’s works are viscerally powerful, concentrating on the human figure and head studies. There is an intensity that is both moving and thought provoking. You are simply left to experience for yourself what lies before you, and as you delve into the layers, it is clear that each stroke of his brush, every charcoal line is purposely and masterfully set onto the canvas.
While his work has been reviewed and acclaimed by international critics, he continues to create prolifically from his studio in New York.