Hall №2
A GHOSTLY CITY OF WINTER DREAMS
Paintings, graphics
23 December 2021 - 29 January 2022

Architecture largely reflects the leading ideas of its time, and the more progressive they are, the higher their value to humanity. But time does not spare ancient buildings. The beauty and sophistication of ancient buildings require not only a desire to admire them, but also call for their protection, restoration and preservation for the future. One of the ways to preserve this heritage for future generations is to capture them in paintings and graphic works. This is exactly what Khmelnytsky artist Nelli Pavlova has been doing for many years.

We are pleased to present Nelli Pavlova’s tenth solo exhibition in our museum, which is also dedicated to the artist’s anniversary. The exhibited paintings and graphic works created over the past two years are presented for the first time. Among the variety of architectural masterpieces recreated by the artist, castles-fortresses, Baroque churches and small Art Nouveau estates prevail.

The breadth of the geographical space covered by her attention is striking. Initially, these were only the buildings of the former Proskuriv (it is interesting that in many works the artist uses old street names and also gives a modern reference), a single and unique city that provides many topics for artistic reflection. But later, as she got to know the land that became her native, the artist created works that reflected the churches, monasteries, towers and estates of Kamianets-Podilskyi (“Polish Market Square”), Antonyn (“Count’s House. Former Luxury of Antonyn”), Zinkiv (“Church of St. Michael the Archangel”) and other Podillia towns. The artist also focuses on the historical buildings of Kyiv (“St. Cyril’s Church”, “Rosenberg’s Synagogue”), Lviv (“Capuchin Monastery on Zamarstyniv”), Chernivtsi (“Autumn Leaves”, “Window of the Armenian Church”), Uzhhorod (“Door to the Past”), Odesa (“Dr. DuBoucher’s Clinic”, “St. Mary Magdalene Church”), Ternopil (“Heritage. Timelman’s Estate”).

The types of art chosen by the artist – painting and graphics – are quite capable of “interaction”. The paintings are characterized by decorative expressiveness of colors, ornamentation, conventionality and generalization of forms, flatness of composition, play of light and air nuances. It is a free improvisation on the theme of the city. The artist uses various painting techniques in her work: traditional oil and acrylic.

Eight paintings are devoted to the theme of Venice, a unique historical city, a city-museum, with numerous monuments of architecture and art, in which Byzantine, Arab and Gothic traditions are intertwined (“The Phantom of Venice. The Old Balcony”, “Palazzo Dario (1487, Venice)”, “Venetian Red, Campo San Angelo”, etc.) There are many legends associated with this city; it has long been a place of pilgrimage for artists and dreamers of any profession and wealth. Actually, it is the same today. There is no bad weather for travelers there, even despite the humidity and rain, constant flooding and heat. The trip to Venice did not leave Nelly Mykolayivna indifferent either. Lushly decorated church buildings, beautiful palazzos with openwork galleries and patterned window surrounds, unique ensembles of doors and portals, countless small bridges, narrow streets with continuous rows of 3-4-story houses, and picturesque squares came to life on her canvases.

The graphic series “History in Stone,” which began in 2000, has already included more than a hundred works. The exhibition presents 15 new works. In the sheets, made in the author’s technique (ink, watercolor, pastel in the artist’s arsenal), churches, villas, and museums appear on crumpled paper stylized as stone texture. The artist does not resort to detailing the image, scrupulously writing out each brick. The main thing for her is the image, the mood. To do this, she vividly highlights the most characteristic fragments of buildings, as if placing them in the center of the composition. We do not see people in her paintings. Only sometimes old architecture is surrounded by equally old trees. In some places, the artist complements the graphic sheets with handwritten texts, which mostly contain historical information about the ancient monument.

Continuous search, joy, creative anxiety, experiment, observation, and invitation to dialogue are echoed in Nelli Pavlova’s works. The works presented in the exhibition eloquently testify that we have something to be proud of, as our cultural heritage is rich in numerous historical monuments.

Maryna Zaslavska, curator

Biography:

1952 – born in Uzbekistan (spent her childhood in Latvia);

 since 1976 – lives in Khmelnytskyi;

1974 – graduated from the Ryazan Art School (specializing in fashion design);

1982 – 1992 – worked as the chief artist of the Khmelnytskknyha association;  

Since 1994 – participant of international, national and regional exhibitions;

2003 – member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.

Her works are kept in museums and private collections in Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Russia, the USA, and France.