Exhibition of Igor Oleinikov "Old Testament" Automatic translate

At the exhibition of Igor Oleinikov in the Bratec Lis Gallery “Old Testament”, we present the artist’s new work: illustrations for the biblical canonical text of the Scriptures, 27 works for the publication “THE OLD TESTAMENT: Book of Joshua. Book of Judges of Israel The Book of Ruth ”(Vita-Nova Publishing House, 2015).

The artist, thanks to whom Alice Lewis Carroll, The Hobbit Tolkien, Baron Munchausen E. Raspe come to life on the book pages, Tolstoy’s Martian landscapes and poetry by Kharms and Brodsky materialize, Igor Oleinikov is one of the best and most recognizable illustrators today. Oleinikov is known primarily for books for children, with them he once began to work with text. But in recent years, works addressed to the adult reader have appeared in the list of books illustrated by him. At the same time, Oleinikov remains himself - both in the choice of text for work, and in the approach to creating illustrations.

“To illustrate the Old Testament is a long-standing dream,” says Igor Oleinikov. - There is dynamics, there is nerve, drive and mystery. I was lucky that the Vita Nova publishing house had just begun to publish this book, its various parts, of which there are many in the Old Testament. I chose the most, so to speak, eventful and tragic part, namely, the Book of Joshua, and the Book of Judges and the Book of Ruth were already attached to it.

The “Old Testament”, aka the “Jewish Bible” (Tanach), is a collection of holy books, the general Holy Scripture of Judaism and Christianity, the first, oldest of the two (along with the New Testament), part of the Christian Bible. The Old Testament books on content are divided into four sections: Legislative - the main foundation of the Old Testament, Historical, containing mainly the history of religion and the life of the Jewish people, Educational, containing the doctrine of faith, and Prophetic, which contains prophecies, predictions about the future.

The Book of Joshua, the Book of the Judges of Israel, and the Book of Ruth are the first three of the seven historical books that follow the Mosaic Pentateuch, which opens the Old Testament.

“An illustrator can give a completely different reading of the book, thanks to illustrations, the perception of the text changes,” Oleinikov states. Preferring to work "unexpectedly", he once left the animation, "remaining only in the book." In the illustration, the artist says, there is much more freedom to be the master of yourself and your business. This freedom makes it possible to look at things in a new way, and when working with a text that has survived many publications and has seen many options for decoration, do not repeat, surprise, make you think again about what you read.

Having taken up work on the Old Testament, “a very interesting text saturated with energy and events,” the artist decided to “look at the topic differently: why not?”. “It was interesting to move the book to the north. In the snow. A certain role here was played by the picture of Peter Bruegel "The Magi", where everything happens in snowy Holland. I wanted to continue the topic and see what happens. ”

An impressive volume of more than 300 pages with 40 illustrations has been released - and these works, indeed, turn out to be “unexpected”. They change the perception of the canonical text, while remaining imbued with respect for it, but modern, almost graphically monochrome, but picturesque. Portraits of characters, landscapes or action scenes are not static, imbued with movement, thereby “drive” and “tension”. “Each illustration for me is like a frame from a film: I know what came before it, and I know what will happen next,” the artist says.

Visiting the exhibition is free of charge, subject to prior registration on the gallery website - http://www.bl-gallery.com/gallery/exhibition-of-igor-oleynikov-nov2015. html .

About the book from the publisher:

“This book contains three books that follow one after another in the text of the Old Testament. The Book of Joshua and the Book of Judges of Israel describe the history of the Jewish people from the moment of the death of Moses, who in his farewell speech (Deuteronomy) formulated a religious and political concept that is fundamental to the chosen people. According to this concept, the Israelis are obligated to destroy all the places of worship of “alien gods” in the Promised Land and to exterminate all the tribes and peoples who lived there before their arrival. Generals and warriors, leaders of the Israelites - Joshua and judges (leaders). Adjoining these two books is a short story about the Moabite Ruth, who, through her great-grandson, David, is also the foremother of Jesus Christ. The publication is equipped with articles and notes that provide the necessary information for understanding the biblical text. Illustrations of the famous Moscow graphic artist Igor Oleinikov were made especially for the Vita Nova publishing house.

About the artist:

Igor Yulievich Oleinikov is a Soviet and Russian artist, production designer of animated films, today he is mainly an illustrator who is actively working with Russian and foreign publishers.

Born in the city of Lyubertsy near Moscow on January 4, 1953. In 1976, he received a diploma from the Moscow Institute of Chemical Engineering and worked as an engineer, while dreaming of animation: “I honestly spent three years behind the Kuhlmann. But he also painted beyond the kulman. ” In 1979, she began work in the Soyuzmultfilm studio - first as an assistant to the production designer, then as a production designer.

In animation, Igor Oleinikov is known for the films “The Secret of the Third Planet” (1981), “Caliph-Stork” (1981), “Once Upon a Dog” (1982), “The Journey of the Ant” (1983), “Martynko” (1987), “Shoemaker and the Mermaid” (1989), “Finding Oluen” (1990), “The Magic Flute” (1996), “Bottom and Lift” (from the series “Tales of the World”, 2000), participated in the films “The Nutcracker” "(2004)," Prince Vladimir "(2005), etc.

“Animation has given me a lot as an illustrator - the ability to draw action and dynamics,” says Oleinikov.

In 1986, he began to collaborate with the magazine "Misha." In 1990, the Enlightenment publishing house published the first book with illustrations by Oleinikov, “And I Was in the Computer City” by A. Zaretsky and A. Trukhanov. This was followed by illustrations for “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “The Hobbit” and so on, as well as cooperation with the magazines Tram, Kucha-Mala, Sesame Street, Good Night, Kids! ”, An almanac“ Gingerbread Man and Two Giraffes ”.

Since 2009, Oleinikov works only in a book.

Today, the artist is one of the most famous and beloved by readers of all ages illustrators.

Over 70 books with his illustrations have been published.

Among them - “Alice in Wonderland” by L. Carroll, “The Hobbit, or There and Back” by J. R. R. Tolkien, “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” E. Raspe, “The Fairytale Story of Navigation” and “The Fairytale Story of Navigation” A. Usacheva, “The Nightingale” by H.K. Andersen, “The Adventures of the Despero Mouse” by C. DiCamillo, “Everybody Runs, Flying and Jumping” by D. Harms, “Aelita” by A. Tolstoy, “Ballad of a Little Tug” and “Alphabet professions ”by I. Brodsky,“ About that which cannot be ”by E. Lear,“ King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table ”by G. Hydbert and D. Knowles and many others).