Lauren Buscemi reviews works by painter Alex Kanevsky who was recently in residence at the Lux Art Institute, San Diego.

Buscemi writes that Kanevsky: "paints nudes and portraits steeped in tradition that feel fresh and contemporary. Figure in Dark without Onlooker (2012) is an intimate work the 49-year old Russian-born, Philadelphia-based painter produced using a Lux volunteer as the model. In the painting, a young woman with dark hair lounges nude on her side facing away from the viewer nestled in layers of dark brooding brown and deep green brushstrokes. These hues were not derived from the sun-saturated indigenous Encinitas landscape surrounding Lux, but from Kanevsky's memory of the stormy sky found in Velazquez's painting of Carlos Balthasar at the Prado Museum. Originally, Kanevsky included a male onlooker, but later removed him, providing a more direct experience for the viewer."