A stunning collection of paintings, sculpture and decorative art from the 13th century to the present day.
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A stunning collection of paintings, sculpture and decorative art from the 13th century to the present day.
John Moores 2010
This exhibition is being held at the Walker Art Gallery, 18 September 2010 - 3 January 2011
2009,
Tempera on wood,
69 x 50.5 cm
I use the traditional medium of egg tempera to paint onto gessoed wood panels. This ancient technique is historically associated with Russian and Greek icon painting and is still employed by the Orthodox community. My work references the aesthetic and allegorical traditions of this visual culture. It maintains a symbolic appearance which is disrupted by the incorporation of imagery and stylistic elements from other sources, including early Renaissance and miniature painting, folk art, cartoons, the media and contemporary fashion.
My working process is influenced by themes of transition,
displacement and belonging, altered memories charged with personal experience of the
complexity of present-day global reality. Painting becomes a playground for imagination,
challenged by the socio-political and spiritual aspects of human existence.
Through the jarring and synthesising of cultural and commodity identities, the present and the past often give way to a more nostalgic feel verging on the esoteric, not
consciously following a particular narrative. The process of surface construction reveals
the technique through the qualities of the material, leaving certain layers bare and
building up the transparency and volume as well as detailed areas of clothing and
headdresses.
For me, borrowing from historical languages becomes less about
appropriation and more about intuition, engendering an motional, critical and cognitive
sensibility.
Veronica Smirnoff was born in Moscow in
1979. She attended Wimbledon School of
Art London 1998-99, The Slade School
of Fine Art London 1999-2004, The
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna 2001-02
(scholarship) and the Royal Academy of
Arts London 2004-07. Her group shows
include 'Passed as Present' York Art Gallery
2008, 'Invasion/Evasion' Baibakov Art
Projects Moscow 2008, 'Gothic'
(Contemporary Art Society exhibition and
auction) Sotheby’s London 2009, '
Women to Watch' Christie’s London 2009
and 'BRIC' auction Saatchi Gallery London
2010. Solo projects are 'Morozka' Galleria
Riccardo Crespi Milan 2008 and 'Zhar'
Galerie Stanislas Bourgain Paris 2010.