Published on 02.2016 at “Le journal russe de Monaco et Côte d’Azur”
Contemporary Art Involvement
My art project ART GOLDEN DIN aims to promote talented contemporary artists and introduce their works to as many admirers of good painting as possible, and provide certified art investment advice. – Inna Maier
It was her enthusiasm for art and art collection that moved Inna Maier to become not only a competent but also a certified art dealer. After receiving her diploma from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London, in 2015 she founded her own company in Monaco, ART GOLDEN DIN.
Her successful debut was participation in the Art Monaco 2015 exhibition and showed works by five contemporary artists, Sergei Grinevich, Alexander Nekrashevich, Yuna Bert, Richard Allgaier and Susanne Allgaier. Between the 1st and 4th of October, ART GOLDEN DIN showed works by Alexander Nekrashevich, Sergey Grinevich and Yuna Bert on the yacht, Nameless, as part of the annual Yacht & Art festival. Today Inna Maier is organizing solo exhibitions for artists she is well acquainted with. She collects their paintings and is sure that they will only become more valuable as time goes by.
SERGEI GRINEVICH
In contemporary Belarusian visual culture, his art is an actual phenomenon. In importance it is comparable to Andy Warhol’s appearance on the American art scene. Sergey Grinevich is one of the most popular and in-demand artists in Belarus. Many museums and galleries consider it an honour to exhibit his work. His brushwork is both immediately recognizable and inimitable.
What is the secret of such high degree of Sergey Grinevich’s popularity? Let us try and trace the individual stages of his ascent to the Belarusian art Olympus. Born in the Krasnoselskaya village in Volkovysskiy area of the Grodno region, he went to the Republican Boarding School for Gifted Children n.a. I.O. Ahremchik and was later admitted to the department of Monumental Painting of the Belarusian State Institute of Theater and Arts. He has been participating in exhibitions since 1982 and joined the Belarusian Artist Union in 1988. The artist is popular not only in his home country but in Western Europe as well. Many of his works are now part of the same overseas art collections that also harbour works by Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, Sandro Botticelli and other, no less famous painters. The collection in question is one of the largest in Europe and belongs to Friedrich Kisters, from the Swiss town of Kreuzlingen. This is also where Sergey Grinevich’s second studio is located and where he comes to work several times a year.
“Expulsion from Paradise”, 2015, 200x160cm Acrilic, canvas
“Army of Love”, 2013, 114x195cm Acrilic, canvas
“CONFESSION”, 2015, 100 x 76 cm Acrylic on plastic glass
“Some moore beer”, 2015, 200x150cm Acrilic, canvas “Self-portrait”, 2014, 200х150cm Acrilic, canvas
“Valentins day”, 2015, 150x250cm Acrilic, canvas
Sergey Grinevich artistic work is multifaceted and contextual. His paintings pose allegoric questions and provide possible answers to the topical problems of our time. They demonstrate the attempt to understand the sources of historic and cultural developments the society undergoes and reflect upon ethical and spiritual themes. Using brushes, paint and a canvas, the artist studies the influence of mass culture on human consciousness, and communicates with the viewer, who is not left unaffected. The author’s personal experiences and emotions are expressed in an unusual for the Belarusian viewer, flashy manner, posing a kind of challenge to a society which, despite all progress, is still after “bread and circuses,” just as it was centuries ago.
This is what the artist says about his practice: “For me, painting is as much of a subjective attempt to contemplate the categories of good and evil as it is an attempt to find a visual code of their common ground and that often untraceable border between them.”
By creating works almost in response to the latest news, Sergey Grinevich is fighting stereotypes and clichés imposed upon us by today’s mass culture. Glossy magazines and Photoshop are counterfeiting our reality. Chasing the newest gadgets and beauty ideals that flood the mass media, people lose their individuality and may even appear funny. By creating on canvas a series of sometimes kitsch “paradoxical memes” the artist testifies to his proactive approach to live, both civil and private.
“WAR OF THE WORLDS”, 2015, oil on canvas, 60 cm
ALEXANDER NEKRASHEVICH
A dazzling and unconventional Belarusian artist who received a classical art education (Belarusian State Academy of Arts, department of Monumental Painting).
His mastery of drawing and painting techniques can be, without exaggeration, described as flawless. His secret, however, lies not just in his craftsmanship but also in the idiosyncratic ways with which he views traditional topics. In his works, Alexander creates a montage of cultural-historical citations, which are then merged with contemporary pop-culture imagery.
Combined with talent and immersion in today’s issues, these textbook postmodernist theses—the re-evaluation of classical motifs, the search for new forms and meanings—give birth to topical and accessible imagery.
In his works, Alexander uses both traditional techniques, such as oil painting, and new ones, such as aerography on aluminium. He was named one of the ten best contemporary Belarusian artists.
“ITALIAN CAKE”, 2015, oil on canvas, 60 cm
“DISCOTHEQUE”, 2014, MDF, carpaint 148×148 cm
