Exhibition of February 2015

"The more fine art retreats from the picturesque, the
farther it recedes from the illusory, the closer it is to
become an expression of the new reality or the new
existences as its only goal:”
KAZIMIR MALEVICH

Joy of life or simply painting

I'm going to interview. It is fall, but in the suburbs of Los Angeles still reigns summer, the Pacific Ocean seems as boundless as sky covering it, I look into the distance, where the horizon lies our future, which we do not know, but that is approaching us, as warm waves of the ocean, seeking to reach the white sandy beach and rolling back. No, a very different place - Pskov province. It is still fall, but golden one, and passing by at eye level, slowly, as in slow motion, reflecting the thick dark yellow sun, swims overstrained web. Nature is preparing for soon winter to rise again in the spring, she remembers the old to meet a new one. No, maybe it's the Castle of San Michel in Normandy or bridge connecting Sofia and trading side of Novgorod, and maybe it's a weather station in the Andes or the lighthouse on Chalkidiki... In the end, it is important is not the place, but the person with whom I will meet. Today it is Archpriest Mikhail Braverman - rector of the church of Saints Constantine and Helen in Saint-Petersburg, Master of Theology, author of several books about the Orthodox faith, worship, gospel. Finally - just a person, and that says it all, and more recently also the artist - painter.

In 2014, after more than twenty years of hiatus, father Michael has created a series of paintings, and it worked as the effect of open window - for those of us who love painting and works in the field of art history, it was as a breath of fresh air. Finally, it became possible to breathe freely when referring to modern painting. That sense of joy and love of life, overwhelming when you look at a picture by father Mikhail, very similar to the experiences of the early works by Wassily Kandinsky and paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. This very feeling of joy I want to talk to my interlocutor.

- Dear father Mikhail, thank you very much for taking the time to answer questions and tell us about your work. How, in your opinion, people should perceive your work?

- Dear Anastasia, first of all, I do not take seriously my paintings (generally better treated ourselves with irony), although, of course, we have to admit - this is painting, and even good - real. For example, to my books I have a serious attitude. A painting - a kind of rest, but because one must live funny and beautiful, we make of this holiday - a happening - the exhibition, and then another, a tour - Paris, Berlin, Milan and so on... Your generation still remembers the Wanderers?

Often people ask me about my painting: "What does it mean?" I replied: "Do you really wonder what in the music means this or that note, a particular chord?" Is important an impression, emotion, energy... Not all is known rationally... First of all I want to convey the joy of life. So far I have only one work on the biblical theme, but what I am - a priest, defines all aspects of my life, attitude toward the world and man, what I'm trying to express by creating my art world, representing a New land where there is joy, light and beauty. In the basis of my paintings are real stories or experiences. It seems to me that the so-called non-objective painting has much in common with theology. After all, theology figuratively and symbolically says that what surpasses comprehend reality and human language, as well, and painting can open a new world that we do not see bodily eyes, but we can feel and know. We live on a planet that is distorted by sin, where art - one of the ways to make the world more harmonious. In the future, when the kingdom of the living God will arrive, and will return and restoration of all things to God, the need in the art will disappear, because the person will be surrounded by the beauty of God's love, but now art - is one way to make the world a more suitable place to live.

- Tell me, please, what style do you work?

- Style of my work is still at the first exhibition we have designated as PJP (painting, jazz, punk). Painting - is, first of all, painting (we deleted, we do not even know what it is - a contradiction between the shape and color). Jazz - is the complete freedom of improvisation while maintaining a uniform style (we do not care whether there is a plot in our work, there are recognizable images or abstraction, note between times that practically pure abstraction does not exists). Punk - this, as well as jazz, sound of color and sound of the line, if you like, we spent demarcate the border between painting and sound add to this the fact that the paintings have their own numbers and "speaking" names. And also punk - it's energy and innovative approach, and we take into account that since the mid-seventies punk has lost its "revolutionary" and became a symbol of some new directions in art and design, for example, we say - it is "cyberpunk", and that "dieselpunk" or "nanopunk", and in our parish, because of the large presence of students of the folklore department of the conservatory, we introduced also the term "folk punk".

- Which one from the presented pictures you painted first and whether for a long time did you work on it?

- The first of painted works - "in the communication space." Once "Black Square" by Malevich drew a line under the historical development of art, but it certainly does not mean that after there were no nice and talented artists and their works respective their talent, just the new (such as, for example, impressionism) already could not appear. That's why I did not see for myself the future path of realization in painting (in the early 90s, when it was hungry, I painted still lives with sausage and herring and sold them in the Moscow department store). But this summer, I suddenly realized that I need to do... - I ran into an art store and bought acrylic. I could not wait to check out, I was wrong or really found my way into the painting... It turned out that the truth - I found. It took half an hour to check.

- Which one of pictures you painted the longest?

- You know, it is much more important the fact that some plots I have kept for the implementation of more than 20 year:

- Which one of the paintings in the exhibition - is your favorite and why?

- All of them are favorite, all the precious because they display the life, no matter - mine or my friends.

- What are your nearest art plans?

- You will be surprised: I have no art plans, but I have a life...

- Do you have the favorite paintings by other artists? In the work of which artists you get your inspiration and who is considered a benchmark?

- If you could choose from all your favorite paintings one that could take to a desert island (along with the Bible, jeep, audio system and stock of diesel), for me it's "Return of the Prodigal Son" by Rembrandt, I do close Dutch painting, the so-called "small Dutch", for which I went right away when I saw them, and in all genres. The Impressionists - first and foremost! Part of the "World of Art". Add Serov, Petrov-Vodkin, Serebryakova... I will specify only that I draw inspiration not from them. There is no other space where man meets God but the soul, there is also a source of inspiration. And in general - must work! Art, like the world, cannot wait!

Author of interview - Anastasia V. ALEXANDROVA

Painter, Archpriest Mikhail Braverman

Archpriest Mikhail Braverman - rector of the church of Saints Constantine and Helen in Saint-Petersburg, Master of Theology, author of several books about the Orthodox faith, worship, gospel.