(ORGANIZED BY CRISOLART GALLERIES)
You are cordially invited to the
Irina Markov Shagal “Gens of creation”
Solo Show
Opening:
Friday, November 29, 2019
6,30 pm
Crisolart Galleries
676A 9th Ave NY 10036
_________
Press Conference:
Sunday, December 1st, 2019
6 pm
PlayHouse
210 West 118th Street, Harlem,
NY 10026
29 November 18:30 – Opening in Crisolart Gallery, 676A 9th Ave NY 10036
1 December 18:00 – Sunday Press conference at Minton’s Playhouse jazz club (Cecyl), 210 West 118th Street, Harlem, NY 10026
A qualified engineer-economist, Irina went all the way from an ordinary engineer to the head of the Financial Corporation of the Saratov region.
13 years ago, doctors insisted that she repatriate to Israel due weather conditions. the Holy Land revived her literally. she also discovered great creative potential in herself. In Israel, Irina begins writing: poems and songs, playscrips for children’s and fairytales as well analytical articles for magazines and journals.
She first took a brush when she was 58. This was not accidental: art is in her genes. From a creative family – singers, poets, painters, the same from her father’s side. Irina is related to the great Marc Chagall. Te family also had to live through a tragedy during Stalin’s rule, when Irina’s grandfather who worked for NKVD was arrested and killed, Marc Chagall had received French citizenship. Irina’s father had been named Mark after the artist – the family realized that the girl
would have to pay a heavy price for being related to the genius.
Up until 1957, when Irina’s grandfather was rehabilitated posthumously, her father had been considered a “public enemy’s son” and had to suffer the great hardships that entailed. He went on to carry the pain of the senseless and cruel death of his father throughout his entire life. This story explains it why Irina’s father not only never sought to meet the great artist but also ignored the relation in the first place. The situation changed only after he first saw his daughter’s paintings.
Shocked as he was, he found the strength to rise above the tragedy that had hung over him all his life like a sword of Damocles. What he said to Irina sounded as a valediction: “You must find your way as an artist, and as a person. And let the memory of your lost grandfather and the spirit of the genius inspire you and feed your creativity.”
Irina Markov-Shagal conducted a series of genetic and archival studies to make sure and confirm that she is truly a grandniece of the famous artist Marc Chagall. She called her exhibition “Genes of Creation” to emphasize her personal connection with the legacy of the past. Nevertheless, Irina strongly disagrees to be like famous masters, including the renowned ancestor. She would like to be perceived as an independent creative unit, and defines her style as “symbolic realism.”
Irina is very committed to her father’s words, trying to put all her soul and personal experiences, her unique vision and understanding of the world into each of her works. There is always a philosophical touch to her paintings. They make people return to them again and again, to find something new, to interpret them from a slightly different angle.
Irina Markov-Shagal is able to wrap the reality in symbolic forms; her works combine carefully painted details and the general artistic convention into a single composition. She manages to mix seemingly uncombinable styles. To deliver her message, the artist sometimes deliberately violates the laws of isometry, thereby only emphasizing and reinforcing the significance and supremacy of the philosophical idea. Irina’s paintings are very recognizable, and the viewer can always trace the subtle, but forever perceptible threads of kinship with her great ancestor, Marc Chagall. Here is her verse dedicated to the artist, which probably explains the source of her talent: “And I carry the same genes that Mark had. And I promise: I will find his ideal no matter what.”
“My paintings do not imply a descriptive side, but I try to put a certain philosophical idea into each of them,” says Irina. The colors help to catch the spirit, and the depicted objects and characters are to reveal the inner meaning of a work. According to the artist, her ideas are universal, and anyone, regardless of language, age or life experience, can understand them and embrace her feelings. However, realizing that everyone’s perception is individual, Irina is happy when a viewer, evaluate her work, finds a deeper background and meaning in a painting than she put in it.
To be closer to the viewer, most of the time Markov-Shagal even paints not with the help of intermediary tools, but right with her fingers, thereby transferring the energy of her hands to the paintings. Many of her admirers really feel the positive energy coming from her works: it envelops and charms. All because Irina possesses a special aura, with which she can help people to cure diseases, if not particularly heal them. Although she treats her gift with self- irony and is clearly embarrassed to talk about it, nevertheless, she regards her work as creative and constructive. The artist well known like a “goodwill ambassador” who is able to connect countries and nations with something higher than politics.
Indeed, Irina Markova-Shagal has already become a phenomenon of the Russian-Israeli relations. On February 24, 2019, she received a medal for achievements in the culture and art of the Creative Union of Culture Workers of the Russian Federation, as well as a diploma of an honorary member of the Russian Creative Union. Negotiations are underway about Irina leading the branch of the Russian Creative Union in Israel. The artist promises to work for the benefit of the two countries: Russia and Israel.
Irina have been named the Goodwill Ambassador more than once. She also start her personal way in diplomacy with Arab countries The artist presented her paintings in the United Arab Emirates, at the International Art Fair in Dubai on April 2019 and in Qatar at the International Art Festival in Doha on November 2019.
Text Alexandra Konshakova, from Hermitage Museum,
(St. Petersburg).
www.irinashagal.com
Instagram @irinashagal