Shimon Okshteyn: Zippo Gas Lighter, 2007

“What makes Okshteyn special is to be able to take traditional means and shape an enormous change in scale: the pencil asked to do heavy carrying. And it works, the image becomes icon, its impact profound.”  ___ J. Bowyer Bell, New York

“These drawings are also highly autobiographical. The range of subjects Okshteyn has painted over the years — from old hats and clothing to out-of-date appliances to high-class comestibles — reveal his own unfolding interaction with life in the United States after his years in the Soviet Union.” ___ Ivan Karp, New York