«Still Life and Still Life».

The exhibition brings together works of various artists: from those keen on contemporary art to the ones who tend to more classical methods. Unlike portrait or landscape, still life painting depicts a set of inanimate objects.

The language of still life has been evolving through time. In the 17th century each element of the painting bore a symbolic meaning, and the whole composition of the elements could be read like a message. The painting instilled a certain atmosphere and reminded of important aspects of daily routine or warfare. The artistic mastery served as a proof of painter’s authority.

But times change and the appreciation of the world changes with them. The details have lost their meaning. Everything has equalized… The atmosphere, surroundings, smell, movement have gained their weight... So has changed the still life painting. At some point it has stepped out of the borders of the frame and became an installation.

These days videos from the internet, documentaries and photos no longer bear evidence of reality. We grow more and more convinced that everything is but an illusion produced by our brain. The artist that creates a still life paining is now more than ever free to play with styles, addressing himself rather than the viewer. And this self-fulfillment, this game is actually a characteristic of our time.

Without any pretensions on conducting a research, I am glad to present some works of a number of artists, me among them. The participants of the exhibition Still Life and Still Life.

Zarina Abisalova, Anna Anisimova, Oleg Arnautov, Boris Vilkov, Evgeniya Voronova, Alexey Voznesensky, Anastasia Vrubel, Viktor Danilchik, Elena Dmitrieff, IIIvanov, Viacheslav Kabanov, Ekaterina Lebedeva, Andrey Madekin, Igor Pestov, Mikhail Pogarsky, Irina Pokladova, Olga Polesovshchikova, Maxim Protsenko, Igor Sever, Yuri Sychov, Boris Khudimov, Alexander Chalovsky, Ivan Yagodkin.

Best regards, artist and curator — Oleg Arnautov.