Oleg Nikolaenko. Nothing extra. Automatic translate

The Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art invites you to an exhibition by Oleg Nikolaenko, an artist who reveals the symbolic essence of objects and invites viewers to reflect on their deepest nature.

What happens when the complex shape of a real flower is reduced to simple geometric forms? It becomes a symbol.

Oleg Nikolaenko is not a naive artist, despite the associations that might arise from a cursory examination of his paintings. The primitivistic style of his works is the result of a deliberately imposed system of limitations. This artistic asceticism allows one to see and understand familiar objects in a new way.

The artist works with symbolic forms that inhabit his inner world. He transfers them to canvas, where they take on a life of their own, unlike their real-life counterparts. Nikolaenko’s style is flat, favoring local colors — the primary colors inherent in objects, regardless of lighting, shadows, and reflections. But it is precisely this simplicity that allows him to convey the essence of the depicted subject.

Nikolaenko is close to the Russian avant-garde, which drew on ancient cultures and folk art and was therefore largely archaic. While continuing the powerful tradition of Russian primitivism (folk prints, Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova, the Arefevsky Circle, and the Mitki art group), Nikolaenko nevertheless remains original and recognizable.

The artist is interested in archetypal themes, depicting flowers, objects, animals, and women. He imbues abstract symbols with a sculptural concreteness. One cannot help but recall Vladislav Khodasevich’s lines on human maturity:

But the words: flower, child, animal - come to the lips more and more often.

Focusing on the simplest existential concepts is a necessary condition for achieving wisdom. Such meditative self-restraint allows one to experience what is most essential in life:

But the soul is filled with sweet fullness by the silent germination of the grain.

Oleg Nikolaenko’s art is profoundly wise and calm, stripped of all excess. Along with the artist, the viewer can immerse themselves in contemplation and shake off the clutter of everyday worries.

About the author

Oleg Nikolaenko was born in 1964 in Petropavlovsk in northern Kazakhstan. He graduated from art school in his hometown and the graphic arts department of the Omsk Pedagogical Institute. In 1987, he began working in Leningrad, in a studio at 10 Pushkinskaya Street. It was during this time that he began actively participating in the city’s artistic life. In 1989, together with Yuri Potapov and Rostislav Kurnosov, he founded the art group "Sneg."

Since 2000, he has been a member of the monumental painting section of the St. Petersburg Union of Artists. Since 2001, he has been developing the "Artists’ Mansard" art gallery together with Yuri Potapov.

Nikolaenko’s works have been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions and are held in art museums in Tomsk, Omsk, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Novosibirsk, as well as in private collections.