Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art presented an exhibition of watercolour still lifes by Daria Kirichenko
- Distinct inner states conveyed through refined and concise flower images
- Artworks exemplifying the ‘new sincerity’
- Exquisite and visually charged watercolours inviting thoughtful contemplation
Daria Kirichenko is a young St. Petersburg-based artist representing the new figurative trend in contemporary art. Her works are tinged with an intonation that in our days, when the ever-sneering postmodernism has given way to a metamodernist stance, is sometimes referred to as the ‘new sincerity.’ They bear witness to the fact that deviation, playful combinatorics, and deconstruction of values are being gradually replaced in art with the revival of tradition and mastery, testifying to the emergence of a new realism tailored to a modern consciousness.
An academically trained third-generation artist, Daria has been living in St. Petersburg for the past 18 years. Her grandfather, the renowned Donetsk-born artist and WWII veteran Ivan Kirichenko, had come back from the war to build a house, plant a large garden, and paint vibrant and abundant flower still lifes celebrating the triumphant beauty of life. Daria, too, creates watercolours, but her individual style accentuates the literal meaning of the genre’s name: life indeed stands still in her refined and concise flower images evoking feelings not unlike those triggered by classical Japanese poems.
The artist’s creative method is a characteristic blend of academism, hyperrealism, meditative practices, and a perfectionist ethos. Looking at Daria’s works, the viewer can’t help wondering, ‘Is this level of artistry still attainable today?’ In spite of the fact that the artist’s preferred form of expression, flower watercolours on paper, does not look so promising as far as contemporary art is concerned, her works still stand out, not only due to their technical sophistication, but also because of the sense of completion, the atmosphere of calm concentration that they exude. Unlike naïve realists and dedicated flower painters, Daria renders neither botanical illustrations nor picture-perfect exuberant bouquets, opting instead to convey a complex gamut of successive subdued inner states associated with experiencing the frail beauty of life and withering.
These skilfully executed watercolour still lifes are perfect for unhurried contemplation. Amazingly bright and solid in colour, they are simultaneously exquisitely delicate, almost lacelike, and meaningfully and visually charged. Well-versed in Japanese poetry, the artist selected a traditional haiku to accompany each work featured in the show.
The exhibition space radiates calmness and serenity – a rare gift in our restless and turbulent times.
Daria Kirichenko was born in Donetsk in 1987. Upon graduating from the Donetsk Art College in 2006, she moved to St. Petersburg. In 2012, she earned a degree in Monumental Art from the St. Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design. Daria joined the St. Petersburg Watercolour Society in 2015 and the Artists’ Union of Russia in 2017. Her artworks were exhibited at the Novosibirsk State Art Museum, Applied and Creative Arts Centre in Kimry, Exhibition Centre of the St. Petersburg Artists’ Union, and Primorsky Krai Branch of the Artists’ Union of Russia in Vladivostok. She won various prizes at ArchiGraphics 7 International Architectural Drawing Competition (Moscow), Youth of St. Petersburg 12th Annual Exhibition, Watercolour Masters – 2018 International Exhibition & Competition (St. Petersburg), and the 1st prize in the Graphic Arts category at Art-Vladivostok International Exhibition & Competition.
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