Amazing images seen by Mikhail Shemyakin - "Sidewalks of Paris"

ST. PETERSBURG. Today, on May 29, an exhibition of our compatriot, the most famous artist and sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin opens in the Marble Palace of the Russian Museum. About thirty years ago, Shemyakin chose Paris as his place of residence, then lived for several years in New York. Recently, he lives in the small American town of Claverac, located near the Hudson River.

Each visit of Mikhail Shemyakin to Russia becomes an event, because the artist always presents something new in his work. The opening exhibition, which includes about two hundred works created by Shemyakin, is presented under the name “Sidewalks of Paris”. All the works of this series are made in the original graphic technique invented by the artist himself.

This author’s technique appeared due to the tendency of Mikhail Shemyakin to experiment and his extraordinary ability to see the world around him in a special way. For twelve years, the artist wandered through the nightly streets of Paris, photographing everything that attracted his attention. It could be cracks on the asphalt, tree bark, stains from paint.

In printed materials, amazing images were presented to the artist. Then, printouts of the seen images made on matte paper were drawn using pastels or gouache paints. So actually a new graphic technique was born, with the help of which Shemyakin made it possible to discern an extraordinary artistic component hidden in the outwardly invisible part of the objects surrounding a person.

Inside this series devoted to Paris, there are separate cycles, however, all the works of Mikhail Shemyakin become the embodiment of the artist’s philosophical attitude to the outside world.

The exhibition is open until August 12th.

Ludmila Trautmane © Gallerix.ru