Aleksandra Istorik / English PARTE 3

7. Between the local scene and the international circuit

One of the most interesting aspects of Istorik’s case is how she combines local rootedness with international insertion.

On the one hand:

• She lives and works in Valencia, where she studied Fine Arts.
• She opens a gallery in the historic center and develops projects in emblematic venues throughout the city.

On the other:

• She participates in major international fairs such as Karlsruhe Art and Art Capital in Paris.
• She exhibits in cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Marbella, Cologne, and Saint Petersburg, which allows her to engage with diverse audiences and artistic scenes.

This dual dimension is also reflected in her visual language:

• Russian and Central European influence can be sensed in a certain symbolic density, in the way she uses gold, and in compositions that at times recall older iconographic traditions.
• The Mediterranean context contributes light and color, an openness of space, and a very direct relationship with the city and its visitors.

The result is a profile of an increasingly global artist with a strong identity, who has been able to consolidate her career from Valencia rather than leaving the city for other major cultural hubs—a choice that was more typical of previous generations.

8. Generational dimension and artistic entrepreneurship

It is no coincidence that many headlines about Aleksandra Istorik emphasize her age: “young promise of contemporary art,” “at only 22 she opens her own art gallery.”

This emphasis says as much about her as it does about her generation:

1. A new relationship with the art market
   Young artists like Istorik understand that it is no longer enough to exhibit occasionally in a traditional gallery. It is necessary to:
   • Manage social media and online presence.
   • Generate original projects (such as live art events).
   • Open hybrid spaces functioning as gallery, studio, laboratory, and cultural meeting point.

2. Cultural entrepreneurship
   Opening a gallery, developing a “live art” model in hotels and airports, negotiating with international fairs… all of this requires a high degree of initiative and entrepreneurial capacity that goes far beyond studio work.
3. Building an artistic brand
   The concept of “Golden Surrealism” operates almost like a brand. It condenses an entire visual universe into two words and facilitates communication with audiences, the media, and institutions. In a saturated visual context, having a clear and consistent concept is a significant advantage.
4. Hybridization of roles
   Istorik does not present herself solely as a painter, but also as a gallerist, curator, and promoter of other artists, aligning with a more horizontal and collaborative model of the art ecosystem.

9. Critical readings and possible lines of evolution

When assessing Aleksandra Istorik’s place in contemporary art, several points of interest can be identified, as well as some open questions about the future development of her work.

9.1. Current strengths

• Recognizable visual language: the use of gold, dreamlike settings, and diagonal momentum creates a strong identity that makes her pieces easily distinguishable.
• Ability to connect with non-specialized audiences: her exhibitions in hotels, airports, and urban venues put her in contact with people who may not frequent galleries but who feel drawn to the storytelling and color in her paintings.
• Early international strategy: taking part in prestigious fairs in Germany, France, and other countries at such a young age opens networks and opportunities that can support a long-term career.
• Entrepreneurial dimension: opening Aleksandra Istorik Gallery and forging agreements with hotels and galleries reinforce her capacity to generate her own projects.

9.2. Challenges and opportunities for growth

1. Conceptual deepening
   “Golden Surrealism” provides a fertile framework but also presents the challenge of avoiding repetition. As the artist progresses, it will be interesting to see how she:
   • Introduces new thematic layers (politics, ecology, historical memory, the body, technology…).
   • Experiments with more fragmented or complex narratives while maintaining her signature visual language.

2. Exploration of other formats and media

1. • Immersive installations in which gold and color expand into the architectural space.
   • Explorations in video or augmented reality linking her surrealism to digital languages.
   • Collaborations with music, dance, or theater—highly compatible with her interest in movement and live art.

3. Dialogue with other artistic traditions
   Given her training in Russia and Spain and her presence in European fairs, Istorik is ideally positioned to build bridges between different genealogies of surrealism and contemporary symbolism. A possible line of future work might include:

1. • Revisiting Slavic, Mediterranean, or other folk mythologies, reinterpreting them in a golden, surreal key.
   • Integrating explicit references to artists who have worked with gold (from Klimt to Byzantine and contemporary creators), situating her work in a broader historical conversation.

4. Research on memory and place
   The fact that her gallery is located in a space built upon the remains of a medieval townhouse opens the door to projects exploring the relationship between physical space, memory, and painting. She could develop site-specific works that engage with the history of the location, its architectural remnants, and the surrounding city.

10. Aleksandra Istorik in the context of young contemporary art

Although we are still witnessing the early stages of her career, several qualities make it possible to situate Aleksandra Istorik within the broader context of contemporary practices:

• Re-reading surrealism: this is not a nostalgic repetition of historical surrealism, but rather a use of its tools—displacement, dream logic, incongruous combinations of objects—as a way to speak about contemporary existential uncertainty.
• Reclaiming painting: at a time when many discourses talk about “post-painting” or the dominance of digital media, her work reaffirms large-scale painting as a fully valid medium, capable of responding to architecture, light, and the viewer’s body.
• Hybridization between art and experience: the emphasis on live art and exhibitions in transit spaces places her among those practices that see the artwork not just as an object but as an event and shared process.
• Young female empowerment: without making it an explicit theme, her figure embodies a narrative of a young woman artist and entrepreneur staking out her own space in a field historically shaped by more hierarchical and male-dominated structures.
• Local anchoring with international projection: Valencia appears as her base from which she projects herself globally, aligning with a growing trend: artists who do not renounce the international stage, yet build their careers without necessarily relocating to traditional art capitals such as London, Berlin, or New York.

11. Conclusion

Aleksandra Istorik represents a rare combination of:

• Pictorial talent grounded in solid training.
• Defined visual language, encapsulated in the idea of “Golden Surrealism.”
• Smart visibility strategy, involving fairs, hotels, airports, galleries, and a strong local presence in Valencia.
• Entrepreneurial spirit, evident in the creation of her own gallery and in her commitment to live art.

Her work articulates a reflection on choice, movement, and uncertainty in a world saturated with options and possible paths, using gold as a visual metaphor for that which remains valuable and luminous amid chaos.

We are still very much in the early chapters of a trajectory that can evolve in many directions: conceptual deepening, expansion into installations and digital media, dialogue with other traditions, and experimentation with more complex narratives.

What is already clear is that the name Aleksandra Istorik has established itself as one of the most interesting within young contemporary painting linked to Valencia, and that her “Golden Surrealism” will continue to generate images, stories, and spaces in which everyday reality is tinged with brightness, ambiguity, and open possibilities.