Modern
art for me is nothing more than the expression of contemporary aims of the age
we are living in
Jackson
Pollock.
Bell'Art:
Woman perception in arts
- I
realized, Teacher, that our search for Beauty,
our aspiration of Beauty, and at
least,
our union with Beauty is what makes a half of our spiritual life.
-
This is not a half but whole spiritual life" Buddha answered
It
started 21/08/2001 with the exhibition of art works (paintings in oil, acryl,
watercolours, graphics, collage, photo works, installation and theater
performance)
in
the Exhibition Hall of the hotel "Katerina" (opposite RiverSide Towers).
The
art-project was kindly supported by: PlusMinusMedia, Golds Gym, Saint Springs,
ZenCoffee, Katerina hotel.
Author
of concept and curator: Elen Gera (GeraGallery)
Sources
of the project:
Sunny land.
Eternal
city.
Soaked
in the full blaze of the sun, the glade of Forum.
A man, radiant with joy, is reading a newspaper. The big letters stare on
me to be read: the saying "Finche viviamo,
dobbiamo imparare l'arte da vivere - While
living we shall learn the art of living. Seneca
The modern Babylon: Art
project "Apocalypse " At the Royal
Academy of Arts. 2000.The gate to the exhibition
hall goes through the dark catacombs. The second shows the installation The
Pope killed by a meteorite. The next hall shows a line of pictures of
different dead human heads with eyes covered by pink glasses. Then we see in the
center of a huge empty hall the spaceship with unisex creatures, you may try to
be one ofAfter we are in the cheap dark flat where video recorder shows us
what had happened there before: shots of a single young man who is in uneasy
situation mostly created by his perception. We see nervous, unhappy neurasthenic
gay, his talks with his lover, then domestic quarrels, the loneliness, and in
the end his is committing suicide using the gas oven, the one we see in this
dark desolate room. Next hall - the
romantic image of a loving heterosexual couple meeting up the sunrise on the
hill..and then everything is lighted up to disclose the reality -
that image on the wall is created by the well-defined shadow cast by a
huge hill of household rubbish and garbage.
Then the short film, magnificently professionally created in sharp
expressive shots but the subject is obviously dramatic and the situation is
terribly tragic: A man; a woman in his sight; his heart beat is getting high
speed, eerie silence is constantly broken by his high pulsation and heavy
breathing; her eyes express accelerating the fear engine and she rushes to
attack him within fierce struggle. Hiding, attacks, run and again violent
struggle. But they are of different physical strength.
Aggressive bodily assault grows into sexual assault. Done. Calm. This is
the end and the start of the same story. Sex wars. Perfectly made short
expressive and dynamic film. All these rooms are very expressive shots of
British reality. The subjects are clear and negative, covered by coolness of
indifferent statements of facts observed or unhealthy sarcasm. Is that is the
projection of postindustrial British society perception in art in the end of the
century? Modern art for me is nothing more than the
expression of contemporary aims of the age we are living in
Jackson Pollock. Apocalypse?
Moscow
"The
art generally and the visual arts particularly are in ruins state:
none of new names, the worse is the situation with fresh ideas; art
galleries are fading away; a few epoch-making exhibitions. The art is not in the
center of life and of great importance as used to be ... The only world star,
born in turbulent atmosphere of Perestroika is, in my opinion, Kulik Oleg, the
great performer, who made impressive performance of his own life by creating the
image of human-dog: During one month Kulik acted a Pavlovs dog,
by living as a dog (in kennel, being naked, wearing a dog collar)
in Rotterdam on the exhibition Manifest.... In the country slowly but
for sure the feminism is rising up. I think that the exhibition with radical
feminist ideas performed in are the most interesting events in Moscow, as
performance of the Antoshinas photo collages on the base of the world-known
paintings A girl on the ball, The picnic on the grass, Olympia
with the naked male images instead of feminine one", Ludmila
Lunina " "Thoughts of the fine arts in Russia" 2001
The
vector of thoughts:
Is
the contemporary art is associated with destructive elements of post-industrial
society, with cynicism and destructive energies megapolis produces, and the
Russian art with performance of Kulik and feministic ideas demonstration which
blindly neglects the nature and differences of the sexes and leads to the
confusion in perception of sex, relations, family, life and makes the war
reflected in the film of art project Apocalypses as the whole project to
be reality. And
any clue in the Antoshina project
is imperceptible what is the inspiration, idea, hard work in changing
a female for a male image in Photoshop or simply by putting one photo on the
other? What is the thought provoking expression?
Is this the expression of contemporary aims of the age we are living in?
Is this what the great country as Russia produces as issue of the day and lives
with that ideas and thoughts? Ideas?
Creative ideas to improve our lives?
Does
the ART creative, thought-provoking, facilitating, animating and brightening up
our lives exist?
Thus
the project appeared to be the incontestable proof and the strong material
evidence that the reality here is not that plane and the other kind of art,
ideas and thoughts Russia still produces, the creative kind.
The
project started with the exhibition of artworks made by women:
-
to demonstrate that in the arts there are many female names and some of are richly endowed natures.
-
to
show the other perception, natural and healthy.
And this
natural Woman perception is created by her concern to have beneficial
environment for her family and kids. The presented art works are devoted to the
cultural wealth instruments for creation of beauty, harmony and love in
the inner and the outer world.
-
it speaks of male and female physiological differences and states:
-
among women there are different perceptions (different subjects, expression,
ideas, style, values)
-
debates are created by different viewpoints. Isn't it more valuable to broaden
own horizons by the other one's knowledge? see "Sun.#21)
-
the right done construction of elements resolve the contradictions (different
art works in one space).
-
the reality is not simple as we wish to be (Sun #21. and "Inferno")
Than
all makes the whole subject "Art of living".
The
art project Bell'Art:
Woman perception in the arts demonstrates different kind of female
creative art works based on the noble aspirations, positive thinking and vital
perception. Provoking the talks about the role of a woman in society, the
accents of the project differs from the feministic ideas as it states the
differences of the sexes and considers them naturally to be completed by each
other by supplementing each other for Good. And any hostility is built on the
narrow point of view and unwillingness to accept the differences, to hear, to
see and to learn that difference.
The
intricate labyrinth filled by different images makes the woman world.
The
chosen art-works are the best of the most popular female artists;
the
play is a popular work of the famous French woman.
Exhibition:
the unique techniques and tends in the visual arts:
Expressive
romanticism in Galina
Bystrickayas paintings
The
delicate shades of watercolours by Irina
Mamontova
Thought-provoking
paintings and graphics of
Elen
Gera
Naïve
funny paintings of Irina Ratushnak
Trendy
pretentious collages of Ekaterina Philippova.
Report:
The
saying PAVSILIPON or Abandon
all unnecessary anxieties all ye who enter here! welcomes every
guest. In the darkness of the exhibition hall the trembling lambent
candlelight made
strange moving shadows on the walls and on the paintings; gradually the whole the
labyrinth of images were lighted up, with different highlights in every seconds.
There were the movement of the shadows, colours, forms to carry thoughts far
away from the troubles of the city to the coast of Spain, to Venice, to Paris,
in the sunshine and joy of the life within the paintings of Galina Bystrickaya,
to simple joy of childhood within Ratushnak paintings, to the dreamland within
charming light of Mamontovas watercolour, to the center of the glamourous
stylish life within Filippova collages and to the quiet
reflection and discoveries in thought-provoking
and stimulating Geras artworks. Different stories, worlds, images, ideas
build the Harmony. On the walls around there are leaves with beautiful aphorisms
and
sayings.
The
center of the exposition is "Sun.#21
(Geras). The issues it touches are central in the project.
The artist's comments:
"The face of "the sun" is changing due your focus on. It may smile on
you, may grin on ... all based on the place you look at from. One move and it
changes again.
Conception is simple and old as human being: the proved fact by this
experiment with the painting is that several people see the same painting in the
same moment differently and everyone sees the true image... his true, his
reality. And it is easy to
take the same position and see the thing as he does or at least realize that it
does exists - the other reality in the same time. And the world around us is not
black/white or as simple as we wish to consider for life ease. And many debates
are created by different viewpoints. Isn't it more valuable to broaden own horizons
by the others knowledge?
And
the world around us is not black/white or as simple as we wish to consider. But
if we take into account the changing factors (internal and external), which
always change the subject and us and the world around, we may suspect that we
may state "the Truth is a subjective sentiment just for the certain time
point".
There
are many points here to be told about. The sun which brings the light and let us
see may make us blind, the sun bringing us life may kill as well, and it could
be cruel and kind in the same time in the same multi-dimension reality - the
shape of a child closing eyes figures this."
There
are two series of the Geras artwork:" The
series Playing with subconscious
is the dream, fantasy, something impalpable
this
is paradox! There are no clear
forms but you read them. There is no consistency but completion. The
most intriguing is the abstract work Inferno,
it entices the all attention away into the continuous round of 
mysterious
events inside the painting, to the unknown. But it is misgiving by creating the
sensation of something draconic and foul deep inside covered by surface. The
name was not written but everyone got the same sensation expressed but in
different words (temptations, hell, something involving in troubles, demonic,
evil). Opposing to intriguing games the blessed serenity of
ADAM APPLE. It is hard to express the feeling
it gives by words because it lights on the subject which is deep inside of subconscious
and
has no name. It has something maternal, warm, milky, sacred, it is the beginning,
it is what was before the whole, very simple and incredible sophisticated, empty
and easy but filled and tight , the center and the null
in the same time, but the
time doesnt exist there, this is the fruit as result, the idea, the
feeling, the foreseeing. Such kind of paintings cant be estimated, because
they are part of eternity and were brought to us by it through one chosen, the
genius
The
series of works named Contemplation,
in my opinion, is the artists sensation of the harmony of the universe,
and simultaneous perception of human greatness and insignificance. These
pictures touch on conciliation and serenity, and issues of God and beliefs.",
Doronkina comments. Lyrical
melodies in a harmony of meditative serenity enchant you and carry you far away
from the reality of the big city." Said Carla Gugi, from Roman art
gallery about Contemplation works
. "Where is the idea here?", asks
the play character, pointing on the peaceful landscape of an English park , - "there is no idea! The image is
so plain and so straightforward! ".
The
Play:
The
play is about the relations and its trouble, about the life of tree friends.
Many critics spoke about homosexual accent in the relationships. The author
sneers at the mans feminization and masculinization of women.
In
the new interpretation of the popular comedy Artmade by Drozdin,
who uses new untraditional instruments in the performance, the same subjects as
tolerance to the different point of view and its value, the value of positive
thinking and the other people and their perception are to brought up. Nikolaeva
Olga, Semenova Dasha and Tihonova Mila are acting in the play.
The play is run with actresses instead of actors but the change of the text was
not inessential. You say that you have lack of
wisdom, I tell you Read Seneca!- from the play.
Seneca
the life is happy if she doesnt
contradict with its nature. That kind of life is possible if, first, a man is in
his right mind and his will is strong and vital, noble and he has great
fortitude and stamina, and ready for any situation, ignoring anxieties and if he
is capable to obtain life satisfaction and to make use of any chance in life; if
he is interested in material welfare without being beguiled by or in
thralldom to. It is no need to add that obviously this approach to life
creates serenity and freedom as any cause for irritation or fear is removed. And
instead of fleeting pleasures, which can be harmful, the powerful constant joy,
harmony and peace of mind exist, majestic and gentle, you know, any act of
brutality caused by feebleness."
...The
eternal duty of art is in creating the space where a man can glide out of
routine towards himself and Heaven.
Summary:
The art-project "Bell'Art:
Women perception in the arts" made the society
to speak about "Art of
living", speak of Seneca, who was mentioned in the projects,
speak of male and female
psychological differences, about tolerance; and about the art created by women.
Following
the idea of Elen Gera's project, the Tretyakov Gallery made the
exhibition "Women perception" showing
its
beautiful collection of artworks created by women.. TV show "Woman
perception" appeared and became popular.
Bell'Art
was the first project, which used theater performance, art-performance,
play
of light and sound and aroma along the exposition.
Being
devoted to the Art of Living (Arte di vivere)
based
on Seneca, modern philosophy, psychology, and other reached knowledge
about
the world and humanity this art project put
the
Tolerance, the Well-being, the Women-Men world, the
Beauty and the Harmony
in
the focus of the contemporary age..
The
eternal duty of art is in creating the space where a man can glide out of the
routine
towards himself and the Heaven.
.
Projects
Bell'Art:
next shows
