Moments … The stories of portraits and still lives, Olga Demidova, Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art
“Moments … The stories of portraits and still lives”. Solo exhibition by Olga Demidova. What is our life, if not a sequence of moments? The exhibition by Olga Demidova, held in Erarta in mid-January, will tell you more about this.
Olga Demidova can be called “a weekend artist”. She lives in Moscow, has two university diplomas and one academic degree, and works as a financial director. Just like famous romanticists of the XIX century, Olga finds true passion not in her professional occupation, but in creative practice. From 2002, she took classes at the studio of the Honored Artist of Russia Annamukhamed Zaripov, five years later became a member of Creative Artists’ Union and right away started active exhibition activities.
Perhaps, the favorite author’s oil portraits and still lives might look add within the walls of a contemporary art museum. But in fact this dissonance of the idea and its incarnation gives a certain beauty to the whole project. Olga Demidova’s works cannot be called the learner’s ones, although she constantly learns from her respected teacher Annamukhamed Zaripov. At the same time her works can be called neither naturalistic nor realistic. They are rather “naive” and dominated by emotions of the spontaneous expressionist artist.
The black outlines around eyes, irregular proportions and curious details as a horse skull in the studio of the teacher make the painting even more interesting in terms of original author’s vision, relying primarily on feelings rather than on a strong professional hand. It is no coincidence that the heroes of her portraits are not random people, but the beloved ones, who open in the process of a portrait creation.
Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art
Erarta is the biggest global project in Russian contemporary art, a must-see institution for gaining insight into modern Russia. At the heart of Erarta lies a totally unique approach to both the art and the viewer, a desire to build a new relationship system between people and art. The museum’s absolute focus and priority are concentrated on the most important person at Erarta – the visitor. All of Erarta’s activities are aimed at growing the number of people who appreciate and love contemporary art because at the core of the institution lies a belief that love of art can make any individual’s life more interesting and fulfilling, thus, ultimately, spreading a passion for art makes the world a happier place.
Erarta is Russia’s largest private museum of contemporary art, a must-see place for gaining insight into modern Russia. Its permanent collection featuring over 2,800 works by Russian artists, along with more than 40 exciting temporary exhibitions staged by the museum every year, have firmly established it on the list of things to do in St. Petersburg. Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art was repeatedly mentioned as a top choice tourist attraction by Lonely Planet guidebooks; ranks among the top 10 museums in Russia on TripAdvisor; was spotlighted as one of the ‘5 Cultural Gems’ among places to visit in St. Petersburg by National Geographic, and became the country’s first contemporary art museum to be featured on Google Arts and Culture Project.
In St. Petersburg, one of the wings of its 10,000 sq. m building is dedicated to the permanent exhibit of the collection of Erarta Museum, the largest private museum in Russia, containing 2800 works by more than 300 artists from all over the country. Another two wings are dedicated to temporary exhibitions and change completely every three months, with over 35 shows in total staged each year. There is also a multi-function Erarta Stage performance hall with a maximum occupancy of 800, which every year hosts over 300 various events such as plays, concerts and film screenings as well as lectures and meetings with renowned figures from the worlds of art, fashion and design. Erarta is open every day except for Tuesdays, from 10:00 till 22:00