“We had dreamed of building cities, fields of glittering towers, urban fantasies meant to house our hopes of progress; now we seek our dismantled landscapes, abandoned, collapsing on themselves. Rather than creating the next utopia, we uncover the vestiges of failed attempts, the evidence of obliteration” (Maisel, 2013: 124). This is a very poetic way…
Category: Art History
Ancient Suzdal and Vladimir
Ancient Suzdal (founded 1024) and Vladimir (founded 1108) are considered true gems of the ancient Russian architecture. Winter presents a unique opportunity to witness these masterpieces of architecture and medieval art in a very authentic way, similarly to how they appeared to the visitors 500 years ago. What strikes the visitor is the absolute pureness…
Andre Derain @CentrePompidou
The grand exhibition of Andre Derain at Centre Pompidou in Paris is a landmark show the scale of which has not been seen since the 1994-1995 exhibition at the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Derain had a profound influence on me as a painter and is a constant source of inspiration for…
The East and West of Fauvism
Two great masters of the twentieth century: Henri Matisse and Martiros Sarian, are probably the most outstanding colourists I know. They do not just use, apply or combine colour, they breath it and live it. The effect of such a passion – exquisite joy of the viewer and pleasure of the senses. The two painters led very different…
Visconti (1957) Le Notti Bianche
The fifth magnum opus by Luchino Visconti, Le Notti Bianche based on a short novel by Dostoevsky is undoubtedly an experience that is not easily forgotten. The original story written in Russian is taking place in St Petersburg during the ‘White Nights’ or a brief period of just over a months from the end of…
Burtinsky. Watermark
My first encounter with Edward Burtinsky took place at the Institute for Contemporary Art in London where the screening of his documentary, ‘Watermark’, accompanied by a Q&A session, was organized a couple of years ago. In ‘Watermark’ Burtinsky tackles a very important topic of water, the origin of life, related to survival itself. His film…
Salgado. Genesis
To say that I was overwhelmed after seeing Sebastiao Salgado’s ‘Genesis’ exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London is to say nothing. I was simply blown away. My first encounter with Salgado’s work took place at the Somerset House in London, which showed some of Salgado’s Brazilian landscapes and Polka Galerie in Paris where…
Steve McCurry: Iconic Photographs
How did I get to know that Steve McCurry was coming to London to sign copies of his new book on Afghanistan I cannot remember. What I can remember is how eager I was to meet the Magnum master of travel and portrait photography. So without hesitating I boarded a red double decker Oxford Tube…
An Auteurist History of Film
‘An Auteurist History of Film’ by Charles Silver (1940-2016) is a little gem of a book conceived by its author as a series of short introductory notes accompanying film screenings from the New York’s Museum of Modern Art film collection that took place between 2009 and 2014. Covering true masterpieces of film making as diverse…
Black Maps
The Black Maps album by David Maisel offers a life retrospective of this master environmental photographer covering a whole range of his projects, from Black Maps (1985), The Forest (1986), The Mining Project (1989), famous The Lake Project (2001-2002), Oblivion (2004), Terminal Mirage (2003-2005) and American Mine (2007). The visually striking works depicting the environmental…
Manufactured Landscapes
Edward Burynsky’s book, ‘Manufactured Landscapes‘ published by Yale University Press is an important environmental photography album focused on the impact of our production and resource extraction activities on the Planet. Exploring the otherworldly entropic landscapes of copper and coal mines in the USA, urban waste collection sites, nickel tailings river in Canada and the ship-breaking…
Earth from the Air
This post will start a series of short articles paying tribute to some of the greatest environmental photographers this world has ever seen. We will start with one of the most known, Yann Arthus Bertrand. His book, ‘The Earth from the Air‘ and the accompanying exhibition, which initially started at Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris…
Eco Art Gallery 