Nina Murashkina. On the top!
The Yermilov Contemporary Art Center has been hosting Nina Murashkina’s exhibition “On the top” since November 1st. Young cultural experts from Kharkov prepared review materials as part of a master class on art criticism from «Соус». How Nina Murashkina can be “On the top!”: about boundaries and overcoming
Maria Varlygina An attentive gaze behind which nothing can be read. Slow speech, in which the words sound quietly but meaningfully. When she finishes speaking or loses interest in what is happening, she freezes. She doesn’t give away vitality to unnecessary things.
Nina seems to stay within herself most of the time. Even when she talks to you. If you want to catch her eye, lure her, deserve it, provoke her, oh, you need to really interest her. When you understand this, the fun begins. I think more than one person has experienced something similar when meeting the artist Nina Murashkina...
Nina values herself, so you value what she decides to give.
It is no coincidence that Nina Murashkina is the one who will say that the meaning of a woman is creation and inspiration. And we are not talking about sacrificial dedication here. We are talking about “only you take care of yourself,” when harmonious existence and coexistence is possible only with a good attitude, first of all, towards yourself.
When entering into a dialogue with an artist—no matter with her or her works—you discover an intelligent, self-absorbed interlocutor. Nina does not impose, does not recite. Lives deeply and seriously - portrays with an ironic smile. Fascinating, in a word. And to charm means to disarm. The summit is a dangerous place. You got it, and then what? A true ideal is beyond time, space and human abilities, that’s why it’s an ideal. So, we are talking about something else. This means that the bold title of the exhibition is not a farewell wave of the hand “I am everything”, no, it is about “when you rise, breathe deeply, without thinking about falling.” Being at the top is a welcome creative plateau from which you can finally see what the path was and what it led to. So the time has come for “On the top!” ….you find yourself in a hall, a gray column blocks your view, you catch red spots with your eyes, and resolutely walk forward. Here are two floors of “illustrated history” about the formation and triumph of the artist Nina Murashkina.
The sound of the harp, as Nina calls it “angelic,” gently but powerfully captures you. For the next hour, walk from one canvas to another, remain silent in front of the installations, carefully but greedily leaf through the art book “Ninochka”.
“I’m too shy” is a central installation created in collaboration with Xavier Escala, a Catalan artist and sculptor.
The work is provocative (the huge red skirt is shamelessly hiked up so that you can’t even see the face of the figure), but not straightforward (is it really so shameless?). The color red, with its multi-valued symbolism of passion, love, fire and danger, attracts the eye. Sexuality attracts and sexuality is condemned.
The first reading of the installation is a demonstration of the “underside” of life. But this is the first, not the final one. We need some general context.
The top floor is an abundance of color and detail. Two installations from the “Insatiable” block are also included in this feast. A huge doll with pearls, meters of fabric and decor.
- isn’t this an objectified desire to speak loudly, demanding attention?
What to talk about? The exhibition talks about desires, fantasies, the distorted and perverted, about falls, tossing and hope. Everything is juicy and without cuts.
But it would be a big omission not to note one more feature of what we saw - irony. The passion and cruelty that escapes from the paintings is curbed by the distance that irony creates. What’s funny is sometimes distant, sometimes held with two fingers, twisted from side to side and chuckled. And where there is room for laughter, everything becomes double and complicated.
Ridicule is disarming and helps to point out those features of the subject that are usually invisible. Scary tales, distorted figures...
What is Nina Murashkina being ironic about? Over the same thing that is most important - how people communicate, how they love, how they torture each other. The one that talks about women, their desires and fears, men and relationships, the one that depicts the intimate side of life, seems to be talking about something unexpected - the need for boundaries and the importance of the right distance.
Being in the field of women's studies, Nina cannot avoid questions about feminism and the problems of women in the modern world. Her femininity does not teach or explain, and perhaps Nina’s works are not about femininity at all.
This is a look through the prism of femininity, as if thereby asserting that “yes, I am a woman, I experience this world in a woman’s body, I have my own meanings that are different from men’s, and I speak about the main things as a woman.” If something goes wrong somewhere, something goes wrong, it’s about improperly constructed boundaries: their destruction where they are needed or, on the contrary, their presence where it is harmful.
Bodily intimacy is not the limit of intimacy.
Now is the time to return to the central installation “I’m too shy”. A woman is ready to give herself to a man, but in reality giving her body is not all. The face hidden behind the skirt is an embarrassment to surrender one’s soul. Nina is critical of pornography and the glorification of sex. It's mechanics, it's even boring... Sexuality and attraction are not about sexual intercourse.
Belonging to a partner, being with him is not a passive state, it is an intense readiness of open arms. It's so desirable and so scary.
“Am I making it clear?” At one point in the interview, Nina gets carried away, and then, interrupting herself, asks: “Am I telling you clearly?”
Nina Murashkina thinks about the future. It is important for her to be heard now, but it is equally important to be able to “speak” later. Her interview question is just a subtle touch, perhaps not having a direct connection with the artist’s intentions to leave a mark on art, but indicating the importance of being heard correctly.
It is curious that Nina’s work represents a dialogue with the canons of previous eras. Appeal to Greek, Chinese, Japanese traditions, the richness of baroque and symbolism of medieval painting is a very “dense” fusion of cultural codes, which are absorbed and processed by the artist into an independent material. This desire for dialogue with art, which has stood the test of time, coincides with Nina’s desire to also be above time.
The artist combines indifference to how her work is perceived with a clear awareness that “the content should amaze and titillate.” The artist is against self-repetition, replication of successful ideas, all that in her spirit she aptly calls “masturbation in art.”
Nina is a vital artist, although she works with the theme of destruction. It’s not so easy to connect, her stories are imprinted in the mind as vivid warnings or puzzles, they can outrage, irritate, and take you out of your comfort zone. But isn’t a person a bundle of passions?
“My art is loving,” Nina will say. Well...
INTERVIEW
Nina Murashkina. Filling the world with beauty... About love and the meaning of a woman.
Olga: Please tell me that in your interviews and in your exhibition the key concepts are love, passion, pain. And what is love according to Nina Murashkina?
Nina: Mutual giving. This is not when one receives or takes away, but when a circular movement of energy is created between two people. When two unite into one and move in a circle, acquiring and enriching themselves without taking away. That is, they, these two, must enrich each other.
Olga: And what is the primordial meaning of a woman? Because your main character is a woman.
Nina: Its meaning is to create beauty. Be it children, be it, in my case, art, be it the environment, appearance, the garden that she planted. For example, there is the American artist Tasha Tudor. And so she planted a huge garden. She did illustrations, made molds for cheese in the shape of animals - feta cheese not in a piece, but in the shape of an animal. The meaning of a woman is to create, to fill the world with beauty, so that she shines like the moon for men, for everyone around her, and inspires. About Nina Murashkina
Olga: What is important to you? Yesterday I got acquainted with the biography of your husband, your biography, and I understand that this is a union of two creative people. And you need inspiration, a muse, a person to inspire, but you also need to inspire your companion in order for him to create his sculptures. What is hard for you – finding your inspiration or inspiring?
Nina: It’s not hard for me and in general it’s very easy. It’s very easy and good for me. Director of the EC: Nina, it’s good when you are in harmony with yourself. This is now, but were there situations when it was not good?
Nina: There was a period of torment for 10 years when there was a so-called image of Nina Murashkina, and on a date they expected me to give me a whip, they asked me where is your whip? But I don’t have a whip. I'm absolutely not a sadist. That is, this image has been created of a suffering lady who can beat you in a closet, which I am absolutely not inclined to do. And now there is a man who looks inside.
Olga: Is this a new image, a new mask, or is this still your inner feeling?
Nina: Look, it seems to me that it’s all the same thing. I don't know what a mask is. Perhaps the mask is makeup. This is the makeup I love. I think it suits me, it feels weird without makeup. Or gestures, clothes - it’s all so organic, it’s just been formed over the years. Therefore, it cannot be said that I will walk out the door from you and will film everything. It all started with Gontarov (Ukrainian artist and a professor Viktor Gontarov), he taught me to wear dresses, he thought that women who wear trousers must have hairy legs. And he communicated this to everyone who was wearing trousers. I've been wearing dresses ever since. All my trousers went to my first husband. He felt great in them, even though they had flowers and some kind of embroidery on the hips.
Therefore, all the transformations that occur on a woman’s path are curious, it’s interesting. The main thing is not to break down and not turn where you shouldn’t. Olga: What can’t Nina Murashkina’s day go by without? Nina: No red lipstick, no kisses or thoughts about them. I need to constantly look at beauty, I am constantly looking for some kind of fresh blood in art, new inspiration. It is important. You need to visit museums, you need to look for exhibitions that will give you food for life, for creativity.
About art
Veronica: How important is it now to visit museums and really come into contact with art? Or is it enough to open the monitor and there will be the same effect? Nina: In a sense, the monitor helps, but in a sense it steals a lot. It steals the aura of art objects. Of course, an experienced collector can choose a new purchase through the monitor, seeing the list of works, the size, and roughly imagining how it will be in real life. But there are also cases when you need to do a display - to feel the aura of the work. There is something elusive in objects of art, a Dionysian beginning in my case. When this emptiness, if it is empty, inside each viewer, inside other artists, must be filled with what is inside the work. If this connection between the work and the viewer finds itself, that's great. This is how favorite authors appear. For example, I can say about myself: I never thought that I would cry in front of a painting by Mark Rothko. Looking at the reproductions, you see a square, a rectangle at the bottom, everything is very bright, abstract. It is not clear why this artist has such a high price. And when you see it live, you don’t understand what’s happening at all. I stood next to Rothko and cried, although abstract painting is not at all my preference. Art needs to be seen and felt, there is a soul there, the soul of every author, if he creates it himself or at least touches it in the end. Now you can hire a production assistant and then sign it - and it will be your work. But if we talk about the classical method of creation, when the author himself creates and signs at the end, his soul is there. And the work remains alive through the centuries thanks to this, because there is a piece of the artist’s spirit there, a piece of the spirit of Michelangelo, Rothko, anyone.
Veronica: And those works that are created in graphic editors, when you don’t directly interact with living material, do they have some kind of soul Nina: There is such a profession as a graphic designer. I studied it for 5 years, I realized that it would not be enough for me. That is, there is a law of the genre - a special law according to which you create a design: be it a book, be it a website, there is a law everywhere, as in other genres. This was not enough for me due to dryness, due to the fact that I need to move according to a certain format. Of course, there is life in design too, but it is much colder, sometimes more minimalist. There, in my opinion, there is less of it, although there are absolutely cool design projects that make your heart flutter. It depends on the designer.
About the texts
Masha: The text can be traced throughout the entire exhibition, despite the fact that the works themselves are quite telling. Why do you turn to texts and how does this happen? Can a work be born from a phrase or do you usually come up with a word along the way?
Nina: There are several sources here. This technique originates from the aesthetics of engravings from the 16th to 18th centuries. There the text is located in approximately the same form, in the same style, and the text is often one word or sentence telling what is happening in the picture. I suspect that then, in my case too, it’s about helping the viewer. For example, when the viewer sees “Who is next?” he understands that there will be another one, he needs to move his paws so that the next one does not come. Or something like that.
That is, it is aesthetics - to hit the viewer on the cheek so that it reaches him faster. But there are also works without text. When they are too redundant, then the text is not needed. But the text is important to me. Within the framework of visual creativity, when there is also text, especially for the “posthumous” heritage, this is very helpful for art critics to study.
Olga: Are you already thinking about how you will be interpreted when they examine you?
Nina: Yes, of course. It is important. For example, Gnilitsky died, and he still had his diaries, he still had his texts, which were exhibited in a magnificent retrospective. This is why artists create texts. Or Van Gogh. If not for the letters, how would it be possible to recreate his story in books and films? This is important for art history. When this is not the case, you need to invent, strain, and this is much more work. About images and their verbalization
Masha: Are there any images that haunt you?
Nina: It depends on the period of life, on what is tormenting... Now these are such flying infantile ladies above glass vases or inside a glass vase. Five years ago it was a man with a saw. Vita: For you, does all art need verbalization? Do you always need to explain it or sometimes just feeling it is enough? Nina: Good question. The best art is when there is no need to explain. But in the age of conceptualism, this is a very common method - to explain, explain, explain. After all, I was brought up on classical examples, when the visual is important to me, so that I am struck by this beauty or strong emotion that the artist wants to talk about. No explanation. Then you can read it. About the spectator and fame after death Olga: Who do you imagine as your ideal viewer? Nina: I don’t think about it at all, I don’t need it. My goals are to create, to think about the viewer - why? I will think about the viewer when the viewer comes to choose a work to buy it. Then I will think about what to tell him, how to present the work. If I think about how I can spare the audience, there will be a lot of torment and everything else. No, that's marketing's job. If I were creating, for example, soap or lip cream, then I could think about the target audience. But here it is not, and every year it expands, from children to the elderly. But collectors must be ready to have this in their collection, and, thank God, there are such people, because this is my bread. No, I won't think about the viewer. I will think about my ideas, about making a competent, successful, interesting show. First of all, to satisfy my idea of beauty as I see it. And at most I will be interested in the opinion, first of all, of the professional environment, of my loved ones. And if the audience gets some kind of response from it, that’s great. This is not fashion. Although Alexander McQueen - I don't think his collectible dresses apply. Collectibles are designed for a one-time performance and then they stand in a museum. And he also has these ideas of passion and death. Now he is no longer there, and all this continues, but how it will continue is unclear. And in the case of an artist... When an artist dies and no one continues his work, it is a great loss. I think now one of my tasks is how to continue my activities after death. Olga: So you would like students? Nina: No, not students. Producing something that can be consumed. I'm starting to think about this now and will think about it later. Anna: You said that when you create, you don’t think about the viewer. But at the same time, you think about how you will be understood after death. Nina: This is part of the job, professional activity. Anna: So, is it still important for you to be understood now? Nina: Yes... I can say that the information is getting through. Anna: How do you feel about the fact that people will see a meaning that is not the one you intended? Nina: It's okay, I'll survive it. The main thing is that these people have purchasing power. Let them understand as they please.
The work lives its own life. It is a professional trait to be able to relinquish ownership of your work in a timely manner. I learned this quite early. There are artists who, at 60 and 70, have a studio fully loaded with their work, this does not apply to me, I have an empty studio. Almost empty, there are several works for display, the rest of the works find their owner before completion or immediately after. That is, it is important for me that they go into good hands and end up in a good collection. About teachers and Ukrainian heritage Olga: Do you have teachers? You can name some creative people whose work you simply inspired, or maybe these are specific people about whom you can say that to some extent you are their student.
Nina: Well, of course, all the teachers I studied with. This is Viktor Gontarov, a very good monumentalist and master of easel painting, a master of shocking and performance art. And drinking strong drinks. Olga: He taught you everything? And this too? Nina: Yes, but of course. Vitaly Kulikov is, in my opinion, the most exquisite master of drawing. He had such depth and he was not shy and did not regret giving it away. Huge library, colossal classical music. And he loved women, so it was very pleasant to talk to him. Then I constantly enter into dialogues with masters who are close to me. One of them is Gottfried Helnwein, an Austrian artist who works with media art in public space. Directors Robert Wilson, who was educated as an architect and now works with modern theater, Andrey Zholdak, whom I grew up watching here in Kharkiv... Veronica: In general, is it important to position yourself as an artist who belongs to a certain country? Nina: My work shows the influence of the Ukrainian folklore tradition, burlesque. The coloring, again, is very passionate. For example, somewhere in Finland or Japan, maybe this could have happened - the development of color, plasticity, rhythm... But the most logical thing is that this happened on the path of Nina Murashkina here in Ukraine. Because seeing Maria Primachenko, Ganna Sobachko, the Boychukists and at the same time learning to copy the early Italian Renaissance, Greek vase painting, Indian miniatures, Japanese engravings, all this gets mixed up. But! The Ukrainian core remains, so in my case – yes. Here is a synthetic narrative about how Ukrainian traditions are layered on another genetic code and therefore it is important for a researcher to know this. I consider myself one of the Ukrainian artists and I am very pleased with this, because the heritage is great in Ukraine and it cannot be denied, it is impossible not to love it.