More Good Contemporary Art

IT HAS BEEN a while since I last featured contemporary artists who I think are not only very good, but very much in the European tradition. As I often say, there is still a lot of great art being created; it is just that one will not find it in the mainstream, where everything is based upon the deconstruction of ethnically European cultural heritage, and nothing outside of the mainstream’s underlying ideology will be given the oxygen of publicity. One must rely on friends on social media and such to bring artists of note to my attention, and I, in turn, try to give them a bit of publicity in some small way. I must stress that I do not know any of the artists personally, nor their political opinions. I of course hope that they have the sort of political opinions that are conducive to a culture in which their art can thrive.

We first hop across to Saint Petersburg in Russia to pay a visit to Vera Shimunia, who describes herself as a thread painter. I would call her the Vincent van Gogh of embroidery. It is hard to believe she only started embroidery in 2015. The thread enables a three-dimensional quality to the work denied by most pictorial artforms. The landscapes created are framed in palm-sized hoops typical of such embroidered oeuvres. She says of her inspiration, “Most of all, I love Nature and believe in its power.” And so do we, Shimunia.

Given the constant anti-Russian propaganda in most of Western Europe and America, it is not difficult to work out why we have not heard of her before, despite the media rhetoric of “empowering women”.

Next, we travel down to the Crimea, where Alexander Shenderov paints seascapes that are frankly every bit as good as those of J M W Turner and George Chambers. Indeed, his paintings hearken back to that particular era of pre-industrial sailing that lasted until the latter part of Turner’s career. While Shenderov paints other subjects, particularly horses, the sea remains his passion, and the vessels portrayed demonstrate a certain Eurocentrism.

Shenderov had a formal education in the arts, firstly studying at the art school in his hometown of Simferopol and then at the Samokish Crimean Art School. He has been exhibited several times in Kiev, as well as in Yalta and Geneva. While oil painters dedicated to such historical seascapes are fairly commonplace, very few are as talented.

Lastly, we may have saved the best for last, as we present Victor Nizovtsev, who, as his name suggests, also hails from this part of the world, although he now lives in Maryland, USA. Born in the Siberian town of Ulan-Ude, Nizovtsev is of European stock and his paintings reflect a European sensibility with some of their themes taken from European folklore and faerytale.

There are other works on religious themes, landscapes and still lifes etc., but it is the ones based on “fantastic realism” we are interested in. Mermaids (see above), gnomes and faeries abound and the paintings hearken back to the golden age of children’s illustration. Indeed, familiar children’s tales like The Princess and the Pea often feature:

Nizovtsev first learnt his craft aged nine at the Art School in Kotovsk (now Hincesti), Moldova, where his family had moved. He then left for the Ilya Repin College of Fine Arts in Moldova’s capital of Chisinau, followed by the Leningrad Vera Mukhina Higher School of Art and Design (now the Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design), where he honed his talents in oil painting.

What is immediately striking about Nizovtsev’s works is the richness of colour and use of light. The paintings positively shine, and one notes the recurrent motifs of bubbles, floating lanterns, house lights, fish and mermaid scales, colourful silk clothing etc. that provide a convenient excuse both for creating bright images appealing to children and for showcasing his talents as an artist.

The figures featured in the paintings are a mixture of caricature of the best kind and realism, which is the mark of good children’s illustration, with a loving attention to detail. Certain European archetypal figures recur, like the professor / inventor and the granny, which add to the cosy familiarity of the scenes. The architecture too is both archaic and homely, of the type from the idyllic past that never was.

Nizovstev does not just paint light-hearted children’s illustrations though. Some have a serious side to them, like the painting above, which plays with the king’s image found in a standard pack of playing cards. Here one finds the same king at different stages of life: above the warrior of youth who expands his realm with the axe, below the statesman who consolidates and rules with the sceptre. It is an eternal truth for an artist with an aristocratic sensibility.

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Source: Mjolnir Magazine