Sergei Parajanov

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

A renowned master of cinematography, Sergei Parajanov also produced a variety of sophisticated works in a range of media, from miniature ink drawings and oil paintings to collages, mosaics, costumes and film stills. His collages and assemblages are of particular interest as examples of Pop Art, packed with layers of meaning and exploring the dialectic between kitsch and high culture, past and present, and Soviet and Western ideologies.

With a dense symbolism of both immediately recognizable and esoteric elements, the present work challenges the viewer. Under close and studied examination, the composition of assorted discarded items begins to vibrate with meaning, as if it were a paused frame in a film. The work addresses a number of key issues that occupied the artist throughout his career, such as his Eastern roots and role within the absurd Soviet system. Constructed in circles, the centre consists of Parajanov’s portrait and hand collaged into a Renaissance costume which, in a juxtaposition typical of Parajnov, is embellished with the ultimate Soviet emblem: the Youth Communist Party ‘Lenin’ badge, membership of which was compulsory for all school children. Furthermore, the kitsch plastic pearl brooch that appears pinned to the artist’s hat and the multiple pieces of costume jewelry that decorate the space and frame certain elements reference Renaissance jewellery and thus question the concept of high art.

The work is strongly imbued with an Oriental aesthetic, most predominantly by the multiple cut-out illustrations of fairy-tale or magical creatures and figures in traditional Eastern costume on a paisley patterned background. A dancing harem figure is provocatively placed alongside a bust of Buddha. The eye is drawn around these various elements by upset balances, for example the jaunty angle of the artist’s portrait and the cut-out illustration of an Eastern dervish, sacrilegiously crowned again with a Lenin badge.

Parajanov’s style, which makes use of elements from everyday mass culture, allowed for his ideas to be grasped in equal measure by esoteric intellectuals and regular Soviet citizens who came into contact with his art. The social context of the artist, whose career coincided with the thirty year span of Non-Conformist Soviet art, is key to comprehending his production. The layered and varied meanings thrown up by the objets trouvés extend far beyond the single line of Soviet Socialist Realism and are thus non-Conformist in their lack of adherence to the precise prescriptions of the established guidelines. As such, Parajanov was not working in opposition to the official regime, but rather entirely independently and completely apart from the absurd uniformity of Soviet propaganda. 

Catalogue note written by Sabina Sadova.