Exhibition of works by contemporary artists of church art at the Russian Academy of Art

An exhibition of works by contemporary artists of church art, held as part of the international scientific-practical conference “Ways to Develop Orthodox Church Art Today: Poland (Bialystok) and Russia. Regional identity with the unity of artistic tasks ”at the Russian Academy of Arts.

Objective of the project:

Selected examples of the work of the largest masters of Russian and Polish Orthodox church art visually reveal the problems of the conference and present a general picture of the state and development of Orthodox church art in Russia and Poland.

The best examples of church Orthodox art artistically organize the space in which the scientific forum will take place. they will create an atmosphere corresponding to the specifics of the conference; they will set topics and directions for the participants’ discussions.

The exhibition is held on the days of the conference - May 22-23, 2019

Exposure Concept:

The main feature of the exhibition is the presentation in a single exposition space of the works of the largest masters of church art in Russia and Poland, which clearly displays the development of church art today, regional originality with the unity of artistic tasks, stated in the title of the conference.

The exposition is supposed to present genuine works of icon painting, as well as monumental ensembles (interior decoration of churches) and architecture - in the form of a video presentation.

Exposition Composition:

Church art of Russia

The gallery of the White Hall of the Russian Academy of Arts presents original works of Russian masters.

The exposition is opened by the work of the President of the Russian Academy of Arts Zurab Tsereteli, whose work in the field of church art has long been a noticeable phenomenon of contemporary artistic and spiritual life. Tsereteli’s works brilliantly solved one of the main tasks of modern church art: a creative search in the embodiment of the Sacred subjects with a careful, reverent attitude to church canons and ancient traditions.

The possibility of creative embodiment of the liturgical canon, which is the basis of Orthodox art, is demonstrated by the work of the largest masters of Russian church art, including academicians of the Russian Academy of Arts. The creativity of these masters is a notable phenomenon in contemporary church art in Russia, a guide for new generations of artists.

The chamber dimensions of the exposition do not allow us to give a complete picture of Russian Orthodox art today. Nevertheless, the exhibition allows you to get acquainted with the work of the largest centers of church art.

Evgeny Maksimov, Irina Starzhenetskaya, Anna Ryndina, Alexander Chashkin introduce the church art of Moscow and the masters of the Russian Academy of Arts. Church art of St. Petersburg is represented by Philip Davydov and Olga Shalamova. The unlimited theme of creativity of numerous and vibrant regional schools is opened by Sofia Machigina.

Icon-painting workshop named after the Holy Martyr, icon-nun Maria (Elizabeth Pilenko), Krasnodar.

Church art of Poland

One of the main goals of the exhibition project is to get acquainted with the original and, unfortunately, little known in Russia, church art of Orthodox Poland.

An extensive presentation of the work of one of the largest Polish church architects is presented on the screen in the White Hall of the Russian Academy of Arts. Jerzy Ustinovich - Professor of Bialystok Polytechnic, Head of the Department of Architecture of Local Cultures of the Architectural Faculty of Bialystok Polytechnic, Professor of the International Academy of Architecture.

The presentation includes more than 40 already built Orthodox churches and projects planned for implementation in Poland.