The great masters of the present are expected to reach the perfection of their predecessors and add something more. Sergei Aparin succeeds in this. Every painting is a world of its own. The real mixes with the mystic. An invitation to immerse, linger and reflect, which one gladly accepts. One could write a long art-historical/philosophical essay about each work. In the context of a catalogue preface, the scope is limited to a few morsels and the viewer is invited to "Crave for more".
Many of his oil paintings have sculptural elements added to complement and enrich the works. Sometimes they refer to a world behind the painting and lend it a visual but at the same time philosophical depth, like an invitation to critically question and reflect away from the superficial.
In other works, although conceived as oil paintings, sculpture is in the foreground. In the conception of his Italian house fronts designed in this way, pieces of laundry blow in the wind. The atmosphere of the work is lively and inviting in a way that you can almost smell and taste the title of the painting "Cappuccino", even though the eponymous element is tiny, barely detectable in the restaurant on the ground floor of the building. Romantic memories of wonderful holidays in an Italian city are projected into your own living room.
His painting "Wind" has a dynamism that lets the strong wind cause the sails of the ships to break through the frame and blow it up like a balloon, true to life.
In the oil painting "Aquarium", the bottom and the top, coloured and black and white, dream and real world are blurred and superimposed. Does life before birth or after death have any contact with our earthly existence? Are we shaped or influenced by the unknown? Or do we just see dynamic fish in a beautiful underwater world?
In his two Winterbildern (winter paintings), humanity is breathed into the trees. Beautiful winter landscapes simply become mystical creatures when you take a closer look. An invitation to take a closer look? A hint for the superficiality of modern societies? Love for nature? A hint to humans as a part and not a master of nature?
In the painting "Die Treppe" (The stairs), oil, metal and copper on wood are composed into a picture that makes one think about the relationship between the generations. In the lower right part, in the black and white shadow, a man with shadow is positioned as a representative of the old generation. At the top left of the coloured area of the painting, a young girl sit enthroned. Very relaxed, perhaps even resting ignorantly on the accomplishments of her parents?
Aparin's work “Das neue Licht” (The New Light) comes close to Salvador Dali's most famous work “Die zerrinnende Zeit” in density, complexity and richness of ideas. The possibilities of association are too rich to be able to specify or suggest a single interpretation of one's own. Time, transience, freedom, hope,violation, ignorance are profoundly and surreally themed in oil, copper, bronze and iron on wood.
Why do three schematically depicted birds move into the shadows in the oil painting "Schatten" (Shadow)? The painting is able to change the atmosphere of a large room, to make it shine. A beautiful, calm nature painting - but the question of the birds' journey into the shadow world remains.
The great masters of the present are expected to reach the perfection of their predecessors and add something more. Sergei Aparin succeeds in this. Every painting is a world of its own. The real mixes with the mystic. An invitation to immerse, linger and reflect, which one gladly accepts. One could write a long art-historical/philosophical essay about each work. In the context of a catalogue preface, the scope is limited to a few morsels and the viewer is invited to "Crave for more".
Many of his oil paintings have sculptural elements added to complement and enrich the works. Sometimes they refer to a world behind the painting and lend it a visual but at the same time philosophical depth, like an invitation to critically question and reflect away from the superficial.
In other works, although conceived as oil paintings, sculpture is in the foreground. In the conception of his Italian house fronts designed in this way, pieces of laundry blow in the wind. The atmosphere of the work is lively and inviting in a way that you can almost smell and taste the title of the painting "Cappuccino", even though the eponymous element is tiny, barely detectable in the restaurant on the ground floor of the building. Romantic memories of wonderful holidays in an Italian city are projected into your own living room.
His painting "Wind" has a dynamism that lets the strong wind cause the sails of the ships to break through the frame and blow it up like a balloon, true to life.
In the oil painting "Aquarium", the bottom and the top, coloured and black and white, dream and real world are blurred and superimposed. Does life before birth or after death have any contact with our earthly existence? Are we shaped or influenced by the unknown? Or do we just see dynamic fish in a beautiful underwater world?
In his two Winterbildern (winter paintings), humanity is breathed into the trees. Beautiful winter landscapes simply become mystical creatures when you take a closer look. An invitation to take a closer look? A hint for the superficiality of modern societies? Love for nature? A hint to humans as a part and not a master of nature?
In the painting "Die Treppe" (The stairs), oil, metal and copper on wood are composed into a picture that makes one think about the relationship between the generations. In the lower right part, in the black and white shadow, a man with shadow is positioned as a representative of the old generation. At the top left of the coloured area of the painting, a young girl sit enthroned. Very relaxed, perhaps even resting ignorantly on the accomplishments of her parents?
Aparin's work “Das neue Licht” (The New Light) comes close to Salvador Dali's most famous work “Die zerrinnende Zeit” in density, complexity and richness of ideas. The possibilities of association are too rich to be able to specify or suggest a single interpretation of one's own. Time, transience, freedom, hope,violation, ignorance are profoundly and surreally themed in oil, copper, bronze and iron on wood.
Why do three schematically depicted birds move into the shadows in the oil painting "Schatten" (Shadow)? The painting is able to change the atmosphere of a large room, to make it shine. A beautiful, calm nature painting - but the question of the birds' journey into the shadow world remains.
