Alexandra Vertinskaya "Paradise" Automatic translate

Since ancient times, flowers have occupied an important place in the visual arts. Being associated with love symbols, religious cults and the worship of the greatness of nature in general, they were an important part of religious offerings and decorations of festivities in all ancient cultures, starting from Assyria and Egypt. In ancient Greece and Rome, flowers were strongly associated with gods and heroes, as their symbols and attributes of their cults. In the Middle Ages, blooming gardens became a prototype of heaven on earth, and the flowers themselves, considered the most beautiful of divine creations, with the development of Christian theology acquired many symbolic meanings. So, a white lily, symbolizing purity and purity, is inextricably linked with the image of the Mother of God and is an integral attribute in the scenes of the Annunciation. Red roses, along with carnations and poppies, could serve as a symbol of the Passion of Christ and the blood shed by Christian first martyrs. Aquilegia, resembling a dove in shape, became a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The specific medieval image of the “fenced garden” referred to the heavenly garden - Eden, Paradise - in which there is no change of seasons and eternal summer and flowering reigns. It is in such a garden that the immaculate Virgin with a unicorn is depicted on the famous trellises of the late 15th century from the Cluny Museum in Paris. Abundant flowering vegetation appears in scenes depicting paradise in paintings by Dutch and Italian masters. Of course, one cannot help but recall the famous triptych of Jerome Bosch, “Garden of Earthly Delights” 1500-1510. (Prado Museum, Madrid), the central and left wing of which represent the images of paradise in the form of a beautiful garden with lush greenery, crystal clear ponds and a variety of fauna representatives - real and fictional.

The rapid development of gardening coincided in time with the emergence of a separate genre of floral still lifes. One of the first self-valuable flower still lifes was performed by Hans Memling around 1485 (Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid) and also had religious significance. Located on the back of the male portrait of the donor, he displayed a bouquet of lilies, irises and aquilegias associated with the symbols of the Mother of God in a majolica vase with a monogram of Christ. In parallel with Christian symbolism, images of flowers are more and more firmly rooted in courteous culture. In a secular context, they acquired completely different symbolic meanings associated with the expression of feelings and personal qualities. In connection with the rapid development of the genre of floral still lifes in the 17th century Holland, artists began to receive orders for individual images of flowers - a kind of portraits of rare and beautiful designs, in other cases making up whole collections. It is interesting that in one bouquet flowers could appear that bloomed at completely different times and were only speculatively united by artists into a single composition.

In her work, Alexandra Vertinskaya gives a second life to a classic theme. Like the old masters, the artist paints flowers from nature, trying to capture and perpetuate their momentary and fragile beauty. Suddenly, traditional images in her work receive an up-to-date reading. Vertinskaya uses cutting-edge artistic techniques and technologies to create them, receiving multilayered works in the author’s technique, combining the initial “preparatory” images on canvases - be it photographs, collages, silk-screen printing - and painting, which is not so complementary as it completely transforms the work. The picturesque foundation is important for the author, since it is precisely this that is the connecting bridge between the real world and the fictional world. Art forms appearing on top of prints are like reviving fantasies, complementing the stingy static materiality with pulsating vibrant beauty.

A separate part of the exhibition was the “Cabinet” installation, where the beautiful flowers depicted by the artist live side by side with ancient scientific botanical engravings, educational posters, herbarium specimens and paintings by old masters. Such an office offers a different side of reverence: not only aesthetic contemplation, but rather a deep look inside nature and the universe itself. The dry world of catalogs, filing cabinets and archives comes to life and underlines the lack of temporality.

Along with the works of past years, the Paradise exhibition included a new series of works in which Alexandra Vertinskaya addresses the theme of the botanical garden as a projection of heaven on earth. The emergence of botanical gardens in Europe was preceded by the emergence in the 5th century of “pharmacy gardens” of small sizes in medieval monasteries, where mainly medicinal plants were grown for medical purposes. Later, already in the Renaissance, the purpose of pharmacy gardens changed - plants began to be grown not only to solve practical problems, but also for study and scientific research. The first such gardens appeared in the XIV century in Italy, which was due to the flourishing of humanism and the spread of scientific knowledge. The idea of ​​the Garden of Eden - a paradise - was preserved in the form of a fenced space, separated from the mortal and sinful earthly world and given to flowers and trees. Since the 16th century, along with the development of universities, the number of botanical gardens has increased both in Italy and in other countries of Western Europe. European colonial expansion has made adjustments to the image and structure of botanical gardens. A great place from now on was given to the reconstruction of geographical conditions, special attention was paid to exotic patterns. The evolution of the botanical gardens has turned the medieval “drugstore gardens” into the complex large-scale institutions that we know today - with unique landscapes, rich collections and exceptional botanical and historical expositions. However, the botanical gardens completely lost the original idea of ​​projection of paradise. Having visited the oldest botanical gardens in Italy, Alexandra Vertinsky collected her own archive of images and impressions, which she complemented with painting. Turning to the genre of black and white photography, the artist takes pictures of their different corners - sometimes desolate, smoldering, like images of the past. Separate fragments of gardens captured by the artist’s camera, in her works, suddenly become self-valuable worlds into which she breathes life into a picturesque illumination, dottedly filling with color some fragments, namely images of the living and beautiful - plants and flowers. Turning to the flower genre again, Vertinskaya invites the viewer to a beautiful garden where you can hide from everyday life and fuss and retire with yourself, your thoughts, sorrows and joys surrounded by life itself - always flowering, evergreen and delightfully beautiful.

Alexandra Vertinskaya (1969, Moscow)

In 1987, she graduated from the Moscow Secondary Art School at the Moscow State Art Institute named after V.I. Surikova. In 1992 she graduated from the Moscow State Art Institute named after V.I. Surikova (workshop of T. T. Salakhov). In 1992-1994, she trained at the National Academy of Arts in Paris. Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts. Lives and works in Moscow.

Selected Exhibitions:
2018 Edencraft. Retrospection ”, Heritage gallery, Moscow
2018 “Other shores”, Central Exhibition Hall Manege, St. Petersburg
2016 “Classic Roses”, Triumph Gallery, Moscow
2012 “The shadow of time. Installations, painting, sculpture, objects, video ”, Tsaritsyno State Museum-Reserve, Moscow
2012 “Partly Cloudy”, “Triumph” Gallery, Moscow
2009 Kandinsky Prize Exhibition, Louise Blouin Foundation, London
2009 Manu Intrepida, Triumph Gallery, Moscow
2008 Kandinsky Prize Exhibition, Central House of Artists, Moscow
2008 Willows and Olives, Triumph Gallery, Moscow
2006 “Visual Archive”, Ludwig Museum in the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
2003 Palazzo di Parte Guelfa, Florence