They present a radio tour of Katya Medvedeva’s exhibition in Petrovsky Passage.
One of the most prominent representatives of “naive art” in Russia, she began drawing at the age of forty, when she worked as a cleaner in art school. Twenty years later, her paintings hung in Parisian museums next to works by Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. Critics call her a “Russian nugget”; collectors consider it a great success to get her works for their own collections. "Art pure soul“- this is the name of the exhibition of works, which has been open in Petrovsky Passage since April 26. Spontaneity in joy and sadness, the pure gaze of a child - this is the “naive art” of Katya Medvedeva.
A radio tour for Silver Rain listeners was conducted by:
| Anna Chudetskaya exhibition curator |
Listen to the entire tour
1. Dasha Ivanova. 2000. Silk, oil, mixed media. 129*92
2. Today I'm dancing! 2004. Cardboard, acrylic. 68*48
3. Three graces. 2001. Silk, acrylic.
4. Spanish dance. 2004. Silk, oil. 67.5*48
5. Self-portrait. 2003. Oil on canvas.
6. Bride. 2013. Oil on canvas, mesh. 93*63.5
7. Mom, I don’t want custody! 2017. Silk, mixed media. 87*75
8. The lonely sail is white. 1994. Oil on canvas. 78*58
9. To be born in Russia is already destiny 1989. Oil on canvas. 145*97
10. Happy Christmas! 1990. Oil on canvas. 70*50
11. Torn button accordion. 2016. Oil on canvas. 68.5*54.5
12. Russian landscape. 2001. Oil on canvas. 65*86
13. Moscow. 2009. Silk, oil, mixed media. 60*80
14. Sunflowers. 2009. Fabric, oil, glitter. 100*100
Project partner
More than 50 of her works were hung at Katya Medvedeva’s exhibition
Dozens of ballerinas in fluffy tutus, much larger than the hostesses themselves, look with playful eyes from the canvases hung on the walls made of pink ribbons. The girls are perfect, airy, lily-like, vaguely tender, as happens in naive art. They are looked after by angels in colorful robes, depicted with childish sincerity. Armfuls of lilies, orchids, and marigolds in pastel shades fly to the feet of the dancers. This whole fairy tale is at Katya Medvedeva’s exhibition in Petrovsky Passage. The artist turned 80, of which 40 years she has been creative.
“For the anniversary of the special and beloved Katya, we are showing her touching, childishly naive and surprisingly subtle works created in recent decades,” says the organizer of the arts festival “ Cherry forest» Edith Kusnirovich. – The idea of the exhibition was proposed by our friend Vladimir Tsurko, and the exhibition is entirely composed of works by private collectors.
Edith Kusnirovich, Igor Vernik, Katya Medvedeva, Tatyana Metaxa. Photo: Danil Kolodin.
For her, Medvedeva was allocated two floors in an elegant building of the 19th century, they hired one of the most talented theater artists Alexey Tregubov, released a hefty catalog of iconic works, some of which were put up for auction, the money from which went to the Galchonok Foundation. And the heroine herself was dressed up, surrounded by loyal fans and flowers. Here Katya is sitting in a smart caftan and a hat, under which pink hair is hidden, holding a bouquet of sunflowers in one hand, a glass of champagne in the other, and is perplexed:
- God, why did I deserve such luxury? She was always simple, never put in teeth, and was not at all drawn to wealth. And why does an orphan from an orphanage need it? I learned the beauty of painting only at the age of 40, when I came to work at an art school. A cleaning lady. There I started drawing, and they immediately organized my first exhibition. I always drew easily - from the heart, from the people. I'm lying in bed and writing...
Marina Loshak. Photo: Danil Kolodin.
Soviet audiences immediately felt the kindness and originality of Katya’s seemingly light-hearted works, in which, if you look closely, the theme of theater is intertwined with biblical subjects. 20 years later, the paintings of the Bears were received with a bang by Europeans. Her paintings hung in Paris next to paintings by Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. “Purely Russian talent,” Chagall admired. “Russian nugget!” - critics responded, and collectors lined up.
To this day, many people buy Medvedeva’s works. They radiate light, freedom, beauty. Katya's angels flutter, ballerinas dance, flowers swirl. And all her characters, painted with light strokes of watercolor, oil or tempera on velvet and silk, live in their own world. They are drawn into it instantly, since there is no rubbish, opportunism, or officialdom here...
“I can also boast that I have works by Katya Medvedeva at home,” admits the director of the Pushkin Museum. Pushkina Marina Loshak. – Every time I wake up, I see beautiful ballerinas who create a unique atmosphere that defines my day. Katya Medvedeva is a rare artist. It seems to us that only professionals whose work we understand as high professional art can be geniuses. But I want to be close to fine artists, which are free internally, regardless of the presence or absence vocational education. Kandinsky, Goncharov and Larionov dreamed of getting closer to the wonderful naive art. Its representatives are Pirosmani, Russo, Medvedeva. And this is not an exaggeration or a compliment, it is the truth. Katya is close to the children with their absolute openness, generosity, free look, joyful and happy, which permeates the entire exhibition. Everyone who comes to it will receive their share of happiness!
In Petrovsky Passage there is a childishly spontaneous exhibition of paintings by 80-year-old artist Katya Medvedeva - a very woman difficult fate with the talent to create light paintings filled with happiness.
The admiring Marc Chagall called her “a purely Russian talent,” and sophisticated Parisian critics could not write a single negative review about Katya’s work.
At the exhibition, which opened as part of the Chereshnevy Les Open Arts Festival with the support of BOSCO DI CILIEGI, you can see paintings by Katya Medvedeva from ten private collections, created over several last decades.
Fairy-tale characters, poets and ballerinas, birds and village huts are painted as if by a child’s hand. The artist always fantasizes with materials, creating her paintings using not only traditional watercolors, oil and acrylic, but also decorating the canvases with black velvet, silk, cloth, artificial pearls, rhinestones and even colored feathers!
“People felt something real in my work. I want to give advice: don’t give up - never. Have a goal in life - you cannot live without a goal. This exhibition in Petrovsky Passage is a lesson for you: look for yourself at any age. I achieved my happiness through creativity. I still live because I write – for you!” - Katya admitted.
One of the first guests of the exhibition were Marina Loshak, Tatyana Metaxa, Andrei Kolesnikov, Margarita Koroleva, Mark Tishman, Igor Vernik and other celebrities, who solemnly congratulated Katya on her anniversary and helped hold an auction for charitable foundation"Galchonok."
Katya Medvedeva’s magical exhibition “The Art of a Pure Soul” is open in Petrovsky Passage until May 31.
Text: Diana Mickiewicz
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The exhibition will be shown as part of the Chereshnevy Les festival
Photo: DR
Within Open festival arts "Cherry Forest" from April 26 to May 31 there will be an exhibition of one of the most famous representatives of naive art in Russia, artist Katya Medvedeva.
Retrospective “Katya Medvedeva. The Art of a Pure Soul" is dedicated to her 80th anniversary and 40 years dedicated to painting.
An orphan from an orphanage and self-taught, she began painting while working as a cleaner at an art school when she was almost 40 years old. But just three months later her first exhibition took place, and another 20 years later, in the 90s, her paintings hung in Paris in the same room with works by Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. “Purely Russian talent,” an admiring Chagall wrote about her. “Russian nugget!” - critics exclaimed, and collectors lined up.
The exhibition in Petrovsky Passage, which is supported by Bosco Di Ciliegi, will display works by Katya Medvedeva from ten private collections, created over the past several decades. This is oil painting, acrylic and tempera, watercolors, works on velvet and silk. According to Katya, the choice of technique when working on a painting depends on the theme of the work and the mood: “When I’m businesslike, I use acrylic, when I’m thinking about heaven, I end up with tempera in my hands, and if I want to have a heart-to-heart talk, I paint in oil.”
Katya uses different materials for your painting: black velvet, silk, cloth, artificial pearls, rhinestones, colored feathers. Her stories are always a response to positive and dramatic processes in the surrounding world, a concentration of personal impressions and inner experiences. Medvedeva’s favorite topics are nature in all its gamut, portraits, biblical stories and ballet will just be presented at the exhibition in Petrovsky Passage. She knew the Bible well since childhood, and fell in love with ballet after reading Maya Plisetskaya’s book of memoirs: on her canvases, weightless dancers twirl fouettés and freeze in graceful leaps.
“I hope this exhibition in Petrovsky Passage will convey to people main lesson, which life taught me: look for yourself at any age, a person’s life should be interesting. I achieved my happiness through creativity. Do you think I would have lived to this age if I hadn’t drawn?” - says Katya.
Now the works of Katya Medvedeva are stored in the Moscow Tsaritsyno Museum-Estate, the House folk art in Moscow, the Municipal Museum of Naive Art in Moscow, the Charlotte Zander Museum in Germany and in other museum and private collections in Russia and abroad.
