MIKHAIL CHEMIAKIN (RUSSIAN-AMERICAN, 1943 —)

A surrealist scene

Paris, 1973 - 1975

Ink and watercolour on paper, featuring a central gathering of partially shadowed figures, their bodies curved and distorted, with onlookers in the middle distance, and the skeleteton of a dog to the foreground, with annotated passages of text in russian to the upper corners, signed and dated by the artist to the bottom left corner, mounted, framed and glazed

Image 22cm x 22cm, total 42cm x 41cm

Mikhail Chemiakin is a Russian-American artist, who left Russia in 1971 for Paris and later New York, having refused to conform to the government mandated genre of Socialist Realism. In his oevre, Chemiakin has worked to create a new visual language by combining a range of pre-existing religious icons and symbols, as part of his philosophy of Metaphysical Synthetism. He produces works on paper and canvas, as well as sculptural pieces and projects relating to set and costume design for theatrical productions internationally. His series entitled 'Carnival at St Petersburg' is perhaps his best known, featuring large-scale, brightly coloured and surreal paintings of both human and animal figures gathered for festivities.