"THE ENCHANTED WANDERER". EXHIBITION OF WORKS OF ZURAB TsERELI

Date: August 23-27, 2017
Venue: Palace of Festivals and Congresses, Debussy Theater Foyer

Project organizers: Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Center for Film Festivals and International Programs, Palace of Festivals and Congresses, City Hall of Cannes, Russian Academy of Arts, Mari El Republic.

Paintings, enamels and small sculptures will constitute the exposition of the exhibition project “The Enchanted Wanderer”. A picturesque gallery created by Z.K. Tsereteli for all the years of creativity, has more than 5000 paintings. In the 1980s, the artist restores the lost technology for creating enamel and to this day successfully works in this technique, revealing its new capabilities.

The exhibition will introduce viewers to the various facets of one of the leading Russian art masters. The fusion of fantasy, dream textures and visual observations of reality remains a constant of Tsereteli’s art. In his compositions - a striving for images of primitive nature, proto-man, for beauty, devoid of pathos, false shine, to the beginning, which should symbolize the truth. So, unexpectedly, the main thing is revealed - the very essence of the “beginning of everything”, for the sake of which, perhaps, man was created. His version of the visual "magic realism", where the past enters into dialogue with the present and the most insignificant details take on importance, shows the sacred value of life - Love, Faith, Good. This is earthly life itself in its momentary sketches and monumental canvases of eternity, in its chamber and grand scale. And every day, the master calls the viewer to the knowledge of good and opens up possible worlds that become available in his artistic dimension.

Biography

Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli was born on January 4, 1934 in Tbilisi (Georgia).

In 1958 he graduated from the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, where he studied with famous masters of fine art - George Reading, Uchi Dzhaparidze, Boris Charlemagne, Vasily Shukhaev. Zurab Tsereteli vividly proved himself in almost all types of fine art - in painting, sculpture, graphics, works in design. Most of the artist’s works are included in some of the best works of world monumental art.

In the 1970-1980s, Tsereteli was the chief artist of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the main artist of the Olympic Games in Moscow.

Today, the monumental works of Z. K. Tsereteli are in many countries of Russia and the world, including the USA, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Japan, Great Britain, Syria, Turkey, Uruguay, Israel. In France, seven sculptures of the master were installed, including the monument to Pope John Paul II and the composition “The Birth of the New Man” at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

Since 2004, the artist regularly holds master classes for a wide audience, including for people with disabilities.

Zurab Tsereteli is the creator and director of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, where he transferred a personal collection of Russian avant-garde works, masterpieces of world art, including Picasso, Chagall, Miro, Dali and others.

The art of Z.K. Tsereteli was repeatedly noted with prizes and awards in Russia and abroad. Z. K. Tsereteli - People’s Artist of the USSR and the Russian Federation, full holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland - one of the highest state awards of Russia, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, corresponding member of the French Academy of Fine Arts, Cavalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor of the French Republic member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts San Fernando (Madrid, Spain), full member of the Chinese Academy of Painting (China, Beijing) and others.

From 1997 to the present, he is President of the Russian Academy of Arts. From 1996 to the present - UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

The artist’s works are stored in museums and private collections around the world.

In 2017, the Organizing Committee of the Festival of Russian Art in Cannes prepared a special anniversary program representing the beauty and power of Russian art: http://dmpkultura.ru/project/364