The Russian Academy Of Arts

The exhibition features paintings by the Full Member of the Russian Academy of Arts Irina Starzhenetskaya from her cycles “Biblical Hills” and “The Beginning of the Existence”. The color, expressive and distinctive, creates a visual image consonant with a poetic image - texts of the Holy history. The paintings have become illustrations to books of the same names: Biblical Hills (2009) and the Beginning of the Existence (2010).

This art project has resulted from the artist’s meetings with the archpriest Leonid Greelikhes, who involuntary showed her a pictorial way inside the topic while telling her about his translations from the Old Testament inspired by his visit to the Holy Land. Irina Starzhenetskaya has been ardently absorbed in the eternal themes of the texts of the Bible. Each Biblical story has its own pictorial language. Full of a festive element of color and dynamics is Solomon’s Song of Songs, in the Book of Ruth her painting is emotionally reserved and narrative.

In the Biblical Hills and the Beginning of the Existence books paintings by Irina Starzhenetskaya and calligraphy by Anatoly Komelin are not only texts and illustrations, they are an entire, harmonious work of art. It is the spiritual and emotional contact and mutual understanding between the artists and viewers that allow to penetrate into the depth of the Biblical themes.

For many years Irina Starzhenetskaya and Anatoly Komelin have been involved in the rebirth and recreation of the interior decoration of churches: the Church of the Resurrection and St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral in the town of Tarusa; the Church of Small Ascension in Bolshaya Nikitskaya street in Moscow. Irina Starzhenetskaya, similar to Old Russian masters, has a subtle perception of colors and uses their direct impact on the emotions of viewers. The dark blue and light blue colors in all themes mean a Christian hope for salvation as well as resurrection in a new world.

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