Exhibition of works by Yuri Shishkov "MY RUSSIA"

May 17, 2016 at 16.00 in the halls of the Russian Academy of Arts at the address: st. Prechistenka, house 21 opens an exhibition of works by the famous Moscow painter, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, academician of the Russian Academy of Arts Shishkov Yuri Alekseevich - “My Russia”.

The exhibition features more than 150 paintings and graphic works from the artist’s workshop, created over the past decade.

Yu.A. Shishkov was born in Moscow in 1940. In 1979 he graduated from Moscow State Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov. Since 1980 - member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, member of the Board of the Ministry of Agriculture. After graduation, he worked at the monumental and decorative art factory, where he took part in the decoration of many large objects in Moscow, including the Institute of Military Lawyers, the Rospechat agency (using Roman mosaic technique) in collaboration with Yu. Rodin and others. V In 1989 and 1991, together with N. Andronov and Yu. Rodin, he performed mosaic work at the Moscow metro stations “Savelovskaya” and “Peasant Outpost”, led the team of artists for painting in the pavilion “Soviet Culture”, ENEA and others. The high professionalism, the original compositional and coloristic solutions distinguish the monumental works of the artist, skillfully owns various techniques. Much attention Yu.A. Shishkov devotes his attention to easel painting, makes creative trips around the country, and takes an active part in art exhibitions. Since 1992 he has been teaching at the Moscow State Art Institute named after V.I. Surikova, since 2000 is an assistant professor of the department of painting and composition.

The formation of the artist’s creative principles was greatly influenced by the appeal to the experience of such bright and talented representatives of the “severe style” as V. Popkov and N. Andronov. Compared to N. Andronov, on the subject and style of which Yu. Shishkov relies on in his work, he is characterized by a more severe imagery and integrity of the pictorial manner. The result of creative trips to the northern regions of our country was the creation by the artist of a collective, poetic image of the Russian village, where the life of a person consecrated by faith, which took shape over centuries in accordance with natural rhythms, acquired stable, harmonious forms. In his works, the image of ancient Russia appears, marked by bright sadness and sorrow for the departing native village motives, the loss in the life of the village, province, where the feeling of the inviolability of the native land and the way of life of its inhabitants still remained. The work of Yu. Shishkov is not so much an image of reality as an expression of the artist’s spiritual experience, his feelings and experiences, his ideas about the world. The exposition presents many works devoted to unique architectural ensembles - the Novodevichy Convent, churches, their special role in the formation of the Russian state, their harmony with nature and a leisurely lifestyle that preserves the traditions of the Russian province: Ferapontovo, Suzdal, Northern village "," White Church "and others.

Yu.A. Bumps. Novodevichy Convent

Worldview Yu.A. Shishkova is characterized by an awareness of drama, which does not depend on time or social factors, whether it is confronting the fate of a creative person, a tragic situation related to a person’s passing away from life, or the loneliness of an old person. It is loneliness, understood by the author as the loss by modern people of their place in the world, of the ultimate goal and meaning of being, becomes the main source of drama in his works. Heroes of Yu.A. Shishkova immersed in their inner world, looking for the answers to the questions posed. The artist empathizes with his heroes and reflects on the moral side of this problem, trying to find support in familiarizing himself with the spiritual experience of the past and to compare this experience with the realities of modern life.

According to the author, with particular acuteness, loneliness manifests itself in the life of a big city, where people who are torn from their soil and lose their traditional ties, even existing nearby, are essentially disconnected, and far from always misfortune unites close people. Noteworthy is the significant difference in the formal-shaped structure of the work of the village and city cycles. This also applies to the choice of subjects, and the degree of conventionality of the pictorial language itself. If the world of urban life in everyday manifestations is always more specific in details, real in plastic tangibility, and the images of heroes are not devoid of psychologism, are acute and even grotesque, then the artist’s village works gravitate more towards monumentality, their imagery is based on the expressiveness of generalized silhouettes and harmony coloristic relationships.

In general, the scope of the search for the artist is much wider. Nevertheless, in his work the incompatibility of the ideal, but already outgoing world of the old Russian village and full of contradictions, but real in its specificity and vitality of the modern city, in its own way reflects the tragic gap between the past and the present, which is acutely experienced by our society. Through all the creativity of Yu.A. Shishkov’s works are dedicated to the memory of N. Andronov, V. Popkov and other talented artists of the “severe style”, and on these canvases N. Andronov often represents a sad image not only of the artist, but also of a man of time of unfulfilled hopes. Creative efforts of Yu.A. Shishkov is constantly aimed at bridging this gap by mastering the spiritual experience of his predecessors in order to continue the continuity of life and domestic culture.

For great merits in the domestic fine arts and many years of pedagogical activity, the work of Yu.A. Shishkova was repeatedly awarded with awards, diplomas and prizes.

The artist’s works are in collections of art museums in our country and in foreign private collections.

The exhibition runs until June 5, 2016.