A. Solovyev works exclusively in medals, having grown over a decade into an experienced medal artist with serious thematic interests and an individual plastic language. From his early works of a narrative, sometimes illustrative nature, and from experiments with form influenced by modern, often contradictory searches in the field of small plastic forms, he has arrived at a strict style. His more recent medals, which are typically traditionally rounded and small in size, are substantive, endowed with a resilient, well-constructed form, and characterized by the concise elegance of compositional solutions and graphic silhouette with low relief. This character of form corresponds well to the clarity of his artistic thinking and his aspiration for philosophical depth and generalized symbolism of the image.
As a mature master, Solovyev presents an extensive series of 17 medals under the general title "The Genius and Vice of Humanity," created over several years (1977–1984, copper). The medals in this series, designed to be perceived in a specific sequence, are united by the theme of the emergence and flourishing of a new revolutionary era in human history, the victory over fascism, and the contemporary struggle for peace and humanism. In terms of the emotional and journalistic intensity of content and the richness of artistic form, the medals in this series are akin to modern posters.
The series opens with the cycle "Great October," which includes the medals "Year 17," "V. I. Lenin," "October 25, 1917," and "Decrees." They are distinguished by the dramatic intensity of the image and the monumental resonance of the small form, conveying the pathos of the idea of social upheaval, the emergence of the world's first state of workers and peasants, and the march of socialist transformation of life. Following this is the triptych "World War II," in which the language of simple yet precisely found symbols and visual metaphors creates an image perceived as a requiem for the fifty million human victims of the war, metaphorically revealing the logic of the collapse of fascist ideology and the tragedy of Hiroshima, which has become a pain for all humanity. The author achieves poster-like expressiveness of imagery in the triptych "Warning," which calls for the preservation of peace, life, and the planet.
The artist's reflections on the past, present, and future, on the "traces" of human existence on Earth, are summarized in the concluding medal of the series, "Man and Planet." Here, the anxiety for the fate of humanity dominates, along with a figurative warning and a call to care for the future.
The models of the series are expressively composed, distinguished by a strict culture of drawing and modeling, and a measured relationship of colors (red with black) — all of which speak to the broad professional erudition of the medalist, the independence of his figurative and plastic explorations, and the clarity of his ideological, moral, and civic convictions.
Solovyev productively works on the theme of the nationally distinctive Kyrgyz culture. In the 1970s, he created cycles of medals titled "Kyrgyz Folk Tales," "Kyrgyz Applied Art," "Kyrgyz Folk Melodies," and "Kyrgyz Epic 'Manas'," many of which were produced in multiple copies. The series of relief compositions "Architectural Monuments of Kyrgyzstan" (1984, copper) goes beyond the boundaries of medal art due to its large format, characterized by fresh imagery, rich realistic plasticity, and decorative expressiveness. These are unique architectural landscapes expressed in low relief, featuring elements of the Kyrgyz landscape — silhouettes of mountains, a piece of sky, and steppe flowers and grasses against ancient walls.
Attention to the psychological world of man, the essential aspects, and the social significance of personality are characteristic of Solovyev in the field of portrait medals. This is evidenced by his works from the 1980s, such as "Murataly Kureneev," "Toktogul," "Vysotsky," and "Father." The spiritual concentration and greatness of genius are emphasized in the medal "Leonardo da Vinci" (1983, copper), where the depth of the image corresponds to a classically strict, restrained form.
