Autumn was greeted on the exhibition wave with “hot”, fantastic and humorous paintings

On the first Friday of autumn, the Novgorod Centre for Contemporary Art opened the September exhibition wave. The warmth and sun are not autumnal yet, some of the works on display, enamels and batik, by a funny coincidence, were made in hot techniques, and the main focus of the wave – a memorable exhibition of works by Zurab Tsereteli – is definitely a hot summer, in the language of weather. However, other exhibitions clearly remind us that the warmth will soon end and a melancholic time will come. And this is very September-like.

The vernissage started with the most contrasting with the rest of the exhibition expositions – “METRONOMICON”. Here are presented illustrations by digital artist (by the way, a native of the Novgorod region – Chudov) Alexey Andreev from the book of the same name with an unusual concept. However, zoo- and anthropomorphic cars, spider-like biomechanoids and other “fantastic creatures” may even be familiar to fans of modern science fiction.

This series of illustrations, and the universe along with it, was born from another collaboration: Alexey Andreev made illustrations for books by a famous publishing house that specializes in a hybrid genre – fantasy horror. Now such a format as an artbook is quite popular – it is a graphic publication that contains only illustrations on a certain topic (for example, to the works of one author or genre). “Metronomicon” became a literary collection, in which, on the contrary, the stories were written for the artist’s works. Perhaps, you can even call this book “an artbook in reverse”.

"It was very unexpected and interesting for me, because up to that point, the art critics and linguists I had talked to had said that I lacked a common narrative, a common concept. And since I draw honestly, and do not try to create some kind of marketing product, I did not think about it too much. And Andrey Duksin, the head of the publishing house and my long-time friend, with the editor and writer Sergey Chekmaev suggested creating a consistent and clear universe with its own history, rules, geography, which would unite these arts, and on this basis it would be possible to do whatever you want. The result is extremely impressive," shares Alexey ANDREEV.

It should be noted that the collection's literary authors include the best contemporary Russian science fiction writers, such as Sergei Lukyanenko. And right now, a film is being made based on the Metronomicon universe.

The main halls of the exhibition space house the main series of exhibits – a memorial exhibition of enamels by the People’s Artist of the USSR and Russia Zurab Tsereteli, as well as glass works by his daughter Lika (Elena) Tsereteli and paintings by art historian Tatyana Kochemasova.

"Tsereteli's works are being exhibited at Dialogue for the third time. And what I never cease to be amazed by is this "gene of kindness", some kind of trait - Caucasian, perhaps - that always shows through in the art of Zurab Konstantinovich. Especially in enamel: I was amazed when I first saw a huge enamel panel in Moscow. We know many very ancient enamels - from Egyptian and Caucasian to ours, Russian. But this is an applied and, in fact, jewelry technique. To translate it to such a scale - you need to have both talent and a certain courage," - notes the head of the NCCA Sergei PUKHACHEV.

Unfortunately, some plans are sometimes not destined to come true. As the candidate of art history, academician and member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts Tatyana Kochemasova said, this exhibition was initially prepared as a lifetime one. But literally six months ago, on April 22, Zurab Konstantinovich passed away, and therefore the exhibition turned out to be a memorial one.

"A special feature of Zurab Konstantinovich is the synthesis of art. And here we present several facets of his work: hot enamels, painting, small sculpture. Here we see silk-screen printing, but you can easily imagine those albums with many drawings that he created literally everywhere. He always had an album in his hands, in which he drew during meetings and trips, he tried to devote any free second to painting," shares Tatyana KOCHEMASOVA.

By the way, according to the curator of the exhibition, the NCCA, it turns out, presents average-sized cloisonné enamels. And there are also works that exceed the average canvas size – about a meter in height.

"Lika Tsereteli is not just his daughter, but also a loyal assistant and comrade, a person who made many albums and exhibitions of Zurab Konstantinovich. She herself, immersing herself in her father's work, can be said to have pushed aside her artistic component. But at the same time, there are many of her own interesting works, sketches. Only a few years ago she began to exhibit them. A series of glass paintings is presented here," the interlocutor adds.

Tatyana Kochemasova herself is an art critic, not a professional artist, but was inspired by the experience of other theorists who tried themselves in live creativity. At one time, it was Zurab Tsereteli's master classes that contributed to this.

The next exhibition is small, but memorable and full of character. The mischievous watercolors of the St. Petersburg artist Vasily Shushpanov tell of the adventures of the cat Duplet and, in places, of the "mouse that must not be named." Hint: the name rhymes with the name of the animal itself. And, perhaps, is the reason for its strange appearance...

"Understand this as a joke and be sure to read the titles of the paintings, they are inseparable from their titles. I also wanted to show that Petersburg is not at all gray. It can be sunny, it can be cheerful, mysterious... This is the city life of a little man, as well as a cat and his friend," Vasily SHUSHPANOV briefly notes.

The basement floor is home to another artist, also from St. Petersburg, who is no less colorful. Artist Daria Sukhorukova presented many works made using hot batik and embroidery techniques. Due to the monumentality of some of the canvases, it sometimes seems from the outside that they are paintings. Only the texture, upon closer inspection, “gives away” the fabric. The artist found it difficult to answer how many times her fingers were burned while working with hot wax. But the result was clearly worth it: you want to not only contemplate the marvelous panels, you want to touch them.

Of course, you shouldn't touch the exhibits. However, Novgorodians can "touch with their eyes" the masterpieces of the craftswoman and other artists until October 5.

Photo by Ludmila Stepiko