My kid could paint that: toddler's art on show

Yes but does this exhibit have a guy pooping on a toilet? I think Freeman Davis could teach this little artist a thing or two...
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My kid could paint that: toddler's art on show
9:00am AEST Thu Jan 8 2009 (Clare Kermond, The Age)


IS THIS a story of a child prodigy or a deliberate joke at the expense of the art world? In the curious case of Aelita Andre, it could be both of those things — or neither.

Back in October, Fitzroy commercial gallery director Mark Jamieson was asked by a Russian-born photographer whose work he represented to consider the work of another artist. Nikka Kalashnikova showed Jamieson some abstract paintings by an artist called Aelita Andre; Mr Jamieson liked what he saw and agreed to include it in a group show, alongside work by Kalashnikova and Julia Palenov (also a Russian) at his Brunswick Street Gallery later this month.

Mr Jamieson then started to promote the show, printing glossy invitations and placing ads in reputable magazines Art Almanac and Art Collector, in which the abstract work was featured. Only then did he discover a crucial fact about the new artist: Aelita Andre was Nikka Kalashnikova's daughter, and she was then just 22 months old. She turns two tomorrow.

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"I was shocked and, to be honest, a little embarrassed," Mr Jamieson said of his response to the revelation.

He thought hard about whether or not to proceed, and talked it over with his colleagues. "And then I thought, 'Well, we'll give it a go'."

Mr Jamieson says the Brunswick Street Gallery has a policy of supporting emerging artists, though that policy doesn't usually extend to artists quite so young. He stands by his decision to show the work but concedes some people will think the gallery is doing the wrong thing.

He argues it is difficult to judge abstract painting. "There are different approaches, there is a formal approach and then there is a free-form approach that comes off a more intuitive base. And if you're thinking about the latter, perhaps a two-year-old can do it as well as a 30-year-old."

Nikka Kalashnikova says she and her husband, Michael Andre, did not set out to mislead the gallery. They simply wanted Aelita's work to be judged on its merits. "Of course, every mother is proud of their child. I didn't tell him (Jamieson) because I had all these feelings going through my head — fear, embarrassment."

Kalashnikova says Aelita began painting shortly before she could walk. Both parents are artists and Aelita was used to seeing them work on canvases on the floor.

Kalashnikova at first dismissed Aelita's painting as "just mucking around" but by August last year she'd seen enough potential that she provided her with a canvas painted red (by her mother) and let her get to work. The image that resulted is among those on display in the exhibition, which opens on January 16.

Despite being a typical toddler in other respects — she is a fan of Hi-5 and Care Bears — Aelita often pesters her mother for the paintbrushes, and her parents have set up an area where she can paint, using mainly acrylics on canvas.

Andre said that as soon as his young daughter began drawing in her Montessori play group, he could see her creations were quite different to other children's. "It immediately leapt out as a defined representation of something in an abstract form," he said.

But Andre admitted that most young children never had the opportunity to create art using proper materials and if others were given the chance, there likely would be more art like Aelita's.

That's a view shared by The Age's art critic, Robert Nelson.

When shown the works without any information on the artist, Nelson said his first impression was of "credible abstractions, maybe playing on Asian screens with their reds. They're heavily reliant on figure/ground relations."

Later, after learning Aelita's age, Nelson said he was not particularly surprised. "I have kids and when they were little, I used to do lots of painting exercises with them. If it is a child's work, it's not a child alone. We're happy to credit the child but it begins with a parental concept," he said.

Nelson said that he could go to any primary school and pick out some credible work from among the portfolios.

While there have been plenty of hoaxes in the art world and some critics of modern art have used the argument that a child could do better than some of the big names in the genre, nobody involved in the Aelita Andre saga has set out to belittle abstract art.

"No one's been tricked here," Nelson said. "You can't really trick a commercial gallery, the process of authenticity is too strict. The gallery probably thinks this is fun and I do too. I love it."

Aelita's paintings are priced between $350 and $2000. Her parents said they would likely place the proceeds of any sales in a trust fund for their daughter.

But Mr Jamieson said that he would not be "making a habit" of displaying other child artists.

Aelita Andre's work is part of the exhibition Soulcatcher X 3, at Brunswick Street Gallery.