Humanity Project: New Saints
New Saints – personal Exhibition of Igor Andrianov (Igor Shulman)
New Saints Exhibition
Dear Friends,
with a sense of excitement and profound anticipation, I am delighted to present my new project, “New Saints”.
The vernisage will commence with a performance, so I kindly request that you arrive on time; arriving early would be even better.
This exhibition is part of the Kulturus festival of contemporary culture.
Warm regards,
Igor Shulman
About New Saints Exhibition
Exhibition of the artist Igor Shulman – New Saints
We are responsible for those we have tamed.
You know who.
New Saints.
When I started creating this exhibition, I had no idea how much information I would have to process.
I delved deep into the history of iconography and realized that this is not my method.
Then I dived into statistics and got stressed out.
I touched upon our loved ones, our friends, our pets. I have lived on this earth for a long time and I am not naive enough to think that pets were created solely for the joy of companionship. No, we (humans) simply eat them.
I am not calling anyone to anything with this exhibition. This exhibition is not about what anyone should eat. This exhibition is about mercy.
I am aggressively trying to draw your attention to this issue. This is my manifesto.
Why did I name my exhibition this way? For me, all these animals are holy for one simple reason.
They have not harmed anyone.
And therefore they have only done good. Isn’t that enough? How many people do you know who meet these criteria?
Moreover, I would call them holy martyrs considering their life circumstances.
I am not interested in the offended feelings of believers and non-believers. The least I thought about was in what form these paintings were made.
The fact that they sometimes resemble icons does not make them so.
You will find on these paintings not only horrifying statistics but also learn what animals think of you. You may even be able to read their monologues in their native language if you can, of course.
This exhibition is not about religion or faith. This exhibition is about humanism.
Respectfully, Igor Shulman
Exhibition curator
NEW SAINTS
This is not an iconostasis. This is not a collection of pet portraits. This is not even an exhibition of paintings.
This is not an exhibition of the works of artist Igor Shulman but rather the state of the soul of man Igor Shulman.
By raising the theme of martyrdom and using the stylistics of icon painting, the author painfully reflects on life. One could pretend that the exhibition is dedicated to the theme of animals being killed by humans, but it is much more interesting to see in “New Saints” the confusion of a successful artist in the face of Death.
According to ancient Church teachings, martyr’s blood washes away all sins, and in the history of the Church there are known cases where unbaptized people who professed faith in Christ and then suffered torture were honored in the Church as holy martyrs. It was said about them that they were baptized with their blood.
But animals do not sin. They have nothing to wash away with their blood. So why do we consider them martyrs? Because animals are absolute victims. Or victims in the absolute sense.
Without any justifications, other viewpoints, fact-checking, and lovers of evaluating crimes with phrases like “Not everything is so straightforward.” At Igor Andrianov’s exhibition “New Saints,” everything is absolutely straightforward.
We have been witnessing death live since February 2022. And we have become accustomed to it despite the horror of what is happening. Reflection on murder, violence, and death logically leads the artist to images of the executioner and the victim.
Today at this exhibition we see another answer – the artist is unequivocally on the side of the victim.
For us, the viewers of this exhibition, it does not matter at all whether Igor Shulman is a vegan or vegetarian, whether he eats pork or releases Christmas carp back into the Vltava River. We see the drama and tragedy of an artist who experiences profound pain from any violence. And the ability to feel another’s pain distinguishes the artist from the viewer.
October 12, 2024. Prague
Anton Litvin
Exhibition curator
Director of the festival of contemporary
culture and human rights Kulturus.
Catalogues
Order a printed version.
Location
Exibition Hall “Fudgy” address:
Chlumova 260/23, 130 00 Praha 3-Žižkov
16.11.2024 07:00pm
Exhibition: Day 1
Introduction – Igor Shulman Speech
In English
This collection, as you may have noticed, is not for sale. However, in that room over there, there are four paintings that are for sale. They are not part of this project, nor are they part of this concept, but you can freely purchase them. Unfortunately, everything you see in this hall cannot be bought.
Another important thought that comes to mind is that if you have any questions, feel free to approach me; I will answer them. But tomorrow at four o’clock, I will be talking to everyone who comes and is interested about each painting—what it embodies and what it actually conveys.
Additionally, tomorrow, with everyone who comes, we will be painting one large, beautiful picture. I don’t know the theme yet; we will come up with it together. The canvas is prepared, everything is ready, and everyone can contribute their part. As for what we will do with it afterward, we will figure that out. So welcome!
Look around, enjoy it if you can.
I want to explain the concept of everything you see here. The concept is very simple—it’s about our pets and what we do with them. And we simply eat them. This includes absolutely all the pets you see present here. We—I mean humanity, not just the two of us—are the ones doing this. The exhibition has nothing to do with religion or iconography. These are references. References, let’s say, to an iconographic form. If I have touched on the feelings of believers, then honestly, I don’t care. Such feelings are worth little to me. The exhibition is not about religion; it’s about humanism. That’s probably all.
If Anton Litvin, as the curator, would like to say a few words about this exhibition, I would be very grateful to him, and you would likely find it interesting to listen to him.
Русская версия
Эта коллекция, как вы заметили, не продается. Но продается, вот в той комнате есть четыре картины, они продаются. Они не являются частью этого проекта, они не являются часть этой концепции, но вы их можете свободно купить. Все, что вы видите в этом зале, вы купить к сожалению не можете.
Еще одна важная мысль которая мне приходит в голову – если у вас появятся вопросы, вы ко мне подходите, я буду на них отвечать. Но, завтра, в четыре час буду рассказывать всем кто придет, кому будет это интересно, о каждой картине. Что в нее вложено и о чем она собственно говоря повествует.
Кроме того, завтра, со всеми кто придет, мы будем рисовать одну большую, красивую картину. Я не знаю на какую тему, мы придумаем это вместе. Холст подготовлен, все подготовлено, каждый сможет внести свою лепту. А что мы потом будем с ней делать, мы придумаем. Так что велкам!
Смотрите, наслаждайтесь, если можно этим наслаждаться.
Я хочу рассказать вам концепцию, всего того, что вы здесь видите. Концепция очень простая – это наши домашние животные и то, что мы с ними делаем. А мы их тупо жрем. Вот включая абсолютно всех домашних животных, которых вы видите, которые здесь присутствуют. Мы – я имею ввиду человечество, а не нас с вами. Выставка никакого отношения не имеет к религии, к иконографии. Это отсылки. Отсылки, скажем к иконографической форме. Если я задел какие-то чувства верующих, то мне честно говоря пофиг. Значит, грош цена таким чувствам. Выставка не про религию, выставка про гуманизм. Наверное и все.
Если Антон Литвин, как куратор, скажет пару слов об этой выставке, я буду ему очень признателен, а вам, скорее всего, будет интересно его послушать.
Czech
Tato kolekce, jak jste si možná všimli, není na prodej. Ale v té místnosti tam jsou čtyři obrazy, které na prodej jsou. Nejsou součástí tohoto projektu ani této koncepce, ale můžete si je volně koupit. Všechno ostatní, co vidíte v této hale, bohužel koupit nemůžete.
Další důležitá myšlenka, která mi přichází na mysl – pokud máte nějaké otázky, klidně se na mě obraťte; rád na ně odpovím. Ale zítra ve čtyři hodiny budu vyprávět všem, kdo přijdou a budou mít zájem o každý obraz – co v sobě nese a o čem vlastně vypráví.
Kromě toho zítra s každým, kdo přijde, budeme malovat jeden velký krásný obraz. Ještě nevím jaké téma; vymyslíme to společně. Plátno je připraveno, všechno je nachystáno a každý se může podílet svým dílem. A co s tím pak uděláme, vymyslíme později. Takže vítejte!
Dívejte se kolem sebe a užívejte si to, pokud je to možné.
Chci vám vysvětlit koncept všeho, co zde vidíte. Koncept je velmi jednoduchý – jde o naše domácí zvířata a to, co s nimi děláme. A my je prostě jíme. To zahrnuje naprosto všechna domácí zvířata, která zde vidíte přítomná. My – myslím tím lidstvo, ne jen nás dva – jsme ti, kdo to dělají. Výstava nemá nic společného s náboženstvím nebo ikonografií. Jsou to odkazy. Odkazy řekněme na ikonografickou formu. Pokud jsem se dotkl citů věřících, tak upřímně řečeno mi to je jedno. Takové city nemají velkou hodnotu. Výstava není o náboženství; je o humanismu. To asi stačí.
Pokud by Anton Litvin jako kurátor chtěl říct pár slov o této výstavě, byl bych mu velmi vděčný a vám by pravděpodobně stálo za to ho poslechnout.
Introduction – Anton Litvin Speech
In English
Our festival Kulturus is actively developing. Yesterday, Mikhail Shishkin performed, next Saturday Marat Gelman will arrive, and today we have the magnificent opening of the exhibition of the wonderful artist Igor Andrianov. We have all known and loved Igor for a long time, and when I first met him, I was constantly left with the feeling that Igor was not revealing everything in his works, that his potential was much greater than what he painted and wrote in those years (2015-2017).
When I started to communicate with him actively and when Igor was invited to the SlovoNovo festival, he began to think in terms of projects rather than individual works. It seems to me that a turning point occurred in his consciousness, and as an artist, he reached a completely different level. After that, we saw exhibitions in Prague in a completely different format. These were not individual commercial works. He himself emphasizes that this exhibition is not commercial; for an artist, this is a very serious step—to start creating non-commercial works. What we saw in the gallery under Charles Bridge and what we will see today is certainly an absolute, mature expression of a mature person.
Igor asked me to write a text for this exhibition, and I gladly did so with great joy. The only thing is that he slightly censored it in the catalog. I don’t know; I’ll pretend I don’t know, but I suspect why. Fortunately, I have the original of my text left, and even if Igor says now that he objects, I will insist on reading the original. Because it seems to me that the censored parts are quite important, at least for me as the author of the text.
So what did I write about this exhibition?
“This is not an iconostasis; this is not a collection of pet portraits; this is not even an exhibition of paintings; this is an exhibition of the state of the soul of Igor Andrianov. Raising the theme of martyrdom and using the stylistics of icon painting, the author painfully reflects on life. One might pretend that the exhibition is dedicated to the theme of animals being killed by humans, but it is much more interesting to see in ‘New Saints’ the artist’s bewilderment in the face of death. According to ancient church teachings, martyrdom washes away all sins with blood. In church history, there are known cases where unbaptized people who professed faith in Christ and subsequently suffered torture were honored in the church as holy martyrs. They were said to be baptized with their blood. But animals do not sin; they have nothing to ‘wash away with their blood.’ Why do we consider them martyrs? Because animals are absolute victims or victims in absolute terms. Without any justifications, other points of view, fact-checking, or enthusiasts evaluating crimes with phrases like ‘not everything is so unambiguous.’ At Igor Andrianov’s exhibition, everything is absolutely unambiguous! We have been witnessing death live since February 2022. And we have become accustomed to it despite the horror of what is happening. Reflection on murder, violence, and death logically leads the artist to images of executioner and victim. A few years ago, as a butcher and executioner, the artist depicted the Russian dictator, thereby removing questions about whose side he is on. Today at this exhibition, we see another answer—on the side of the victims. For us, viewers of this exhibition, it absolutely does not matter whether Igor Andrianov is a vegan or vegetarian, whether he eats pork or releases Christmas carp back into the Vltava River. We see the drama and tragedy of an artist who experiences immense pain from any violence. And the ability to feel someone else’s pain distinguishes an artist from a viewer. Thank you, Igor!”
Вступительное слово куратора выставки Антона Литвина
Наш фестиваль Kulturus активно развивается. Вчера выступал Михаил Шишкин, в следующую субботу приедет Марат Гельман, а сегодня у нас великолепное открытие выставки прекрасного художника Игоря Андрианова. Мы все знаем и любим Игоря очень давно и, когда я с ним познакомился, меня все время не оставляло чувство, что Игорь, в своих работах что-то не договаривает, что его потенциал гораздо больше, чем то, что он рисовал, писал в те года (2015-2017гг).
Когда я начал с ним активно общаться и когда случилось приглашение Игоря на фестиваль “СловоНово” и там Игорь стал мыслить проектами, а не отдельными работами. Мне кажется, что произошел перелом в его сознании, и как художник он вышел на совершенно другой уровень. И после этого, мы видели выставки уже в Праге, в совершенно другом формате. Это не были отдельные работы – коммерческие. Он и сам подчеркивает, что эта выставка не коммерческая, а для художника, это очень серьезный шаг – начать делать не коммерческие работы. И то, что мы видели в галерее под Карловым мостом, и то, что мы увидим сегодня, это конечно абсолютное, зрелое высказывание, зрелого человека.
Игорь попросил написать меня текст к этой выставке, и я это с удовольствием, с большой радостью это сделал. Единственное, что он в каталоге его чуть-чуть, так скажем, отцензурировал. Я не знаю, я сделаю вид, что не знаю, но я догадываюсь, по каким причинам. К счастью, у меня остался оригинал моего текста и если даже Игорь сейчас скажет, что он возражает, я все таки буду настаивать, чтобы я прочел оригинал. Потому, что мне кажется, что отцензурированные места, они довольно важны, по крайней мере для меня, как автора текста.
Так что же я написал про эту выставку?
«Это не иконостас, это не собрание портретов домашних животных, это даже не выставка живописи, это выставка не картин художника Игоря Андрианова, это выставка состояния души человека Игоря Андрианова. Поднимая тему мученичества и используя стилистику иконописи, автор мучительно размышляет о жизни. Можно сделать вид, что выставка посвящена теме – убийства животных человеком, но гораздо интересней увидеть в «Новых святых» растерянность художника перед лицом смерти. По древнему учению церкви, мученическая смерть, кровью смывает все грехи. В истории церкви известны случаи, когда не крещенные люди исповедовавшие веру во Христа и после этого притерпевшие мучения, почитались в церкви как святые мученики. Про них говорилось, что они крещены своей кровью. Но ведь животные не грешат, им нечего «смывать своей кровью». Почему же мы их считаем мучениками? Да потому, что животные, это абсолютные жертвы, или жертвы в абсолюте. Без всяких оправданий, других точек зрения, факчекинга или любителей оценивать преступление фразами «не все так однозначно». На выставке Игоря Андрианова, как раз абсолютно однозначно! Смерть в прямом эфире мы наблюдаем с февраля 2022года. И мы привыкли к этому, несмотря на ужас происходящего. Рефлексия на тему убийств, насилия и смерти, логично приводят художника к образам палача и жертвы. В роли мясника и палача, художник несколько лет назад, изобразил российского диктатора. Сняв тем самым вопросы о том на чьей стороне он находится. Сегодня, на этой выставке, мы видим еще один ответ – на стороне жертв. Нам, зрителям этой выставки, абсолютно не важно, является ли Игорь Андрианов веганом или вегатерианцем, ест ли он свинину или выпускает ли он Рождественского карпа обратно в Влтаву. Мы видим драму и трагедию художника который переживает сильнейшую боль от любого насилия. А умение чувствовать чужую боль и отличает художника от зрителя. Спасибо Игорь!»
Czech
Náš festival Kulturus se aktivně rozvíjí. Včera vystoupil Michail Šiškin, příští sobotu přijede Marat Gelman a dnes máme nádherné otevření výstavy skvělého umělce Igora Andrianova. Všichni Igora známe a máme ho rádi už dlouho a když jsem se s ním poprvé setkal, neustále mě neopouštělo pocit, že Igor ve svých dílech něco nezmiňuje, že jeho potenciál je mnohem větší než to, co maloval a psal v těch letech (2015-2017).
Když jsem s ním začal aktivně komunikovat a když byl Igor pozván na festival “SlovoNovo”, začal myslet v projektech místo jednotlivých děl. Zdá se mi, že došlo k zvratu v jeho vědomí a jako umělec dosáhl zcela jiné úrovně. Po tom jsme viděli výstavy v Praze v úplně jiném formátu. Nebyly to jednotlivé komerční práce. Sám zdůrazňuje, že tato výstava není komerční; pro umělce je to velmi vážný krok – začít vytvářet nekomerční díla. To co jsme viděli v galerii pod Karlovým mostem a co dnes uvidíme je samozřejmě absolutní zralé vyjádření zralého člověka.
Igor mě požádal o napsání textu k této výstavě a já jsem to s radostí udělal s velkým potěšením. Jediná věc je ta, že ho v katalogu trochu cenzuroval. Nevím; budu předstírat, že nevím, ale tuším proč. Naštěstí mi zůstal originál mého textu a i když Igor teď řekne, že nesouhlasí, budu trvat na tom abych přečetl originál. Protože se mi zdá, že cenzurované části jsou docela důležité alespoň pro mě jako autora textu.
Co jsem tedy napsal o této výstavě?
“To není ikonostas; to není sbírka portrétů domácích zvířat; to není ani výstava malby; to je výstava stavu duše Igora Andrianova. Zvedajíc téma mučednictví a používajíc stylistiku ikonopisu autor bolestivě přemýšlí o životě. Můžeme předstírat, že výstava je věnována tématu – zabíjení zvířat člověkem, ale mnohem zajímavější je vidět v ‘Nových svatých’ zmatenost umělce tváří v tvář smrti. Podle starobylého učení církve mučednická smrt smývá všechny hříchy krví. V historii církve jsou známy případy kdy nekřtění lidé vyznávající víru v Krista a po té trpící mučení byli ctěni církví jako svatí mučedníci. O nich se říkalo že byli pokřtěni svou krví. Ale zvířata nehřeší; nemají co ‘smývat svou krví’. Proč je tedy považujeme za mučedníky? Protože zvířata jsou absolutní oběti nebo oběti v absolutnu. Bez jakýchkoliv ospravedlnění nebo jiných pohledů na věc či fakt-checkingu nebo nadšenců hodnotících zločiny frázemi ‘ne všechno je tak jednoznačné’. Na výstavě Igora Andrianova je vše naprosto jednoznačné! Smrt naživo sledujeme od února 2022. A zvyknuli jsme si na to navzdory hrůze toho co se děje. Reflexe na téma vraždění násilí a smrti logicky vede umělce k obrazům kata a oběti. V roli řezníka a kata umělec před několika lety zobrazil ruského diktátora tím odstranil otázky o tom na čí straně stojí. Dnes na této výstavě vidíme ještě jednu odpověď – na straně obětí. Nám divákům této výstavy vůbec nezáleží na tom zda je Igor Andrianov vegan nebo vegetarián zda jí vepřové nebo pouští vánoční kapra zpět do Vltavy. Vidíme dramatickou tragédii umělce který prožívá silnou bolest z jakéhokoli násilí. A schopnost cítit bolest druhých odlišuje umělce od diváka. Děkuji ti Igore!”
Gallery
Credit to Nata Rasp
Credit to Arkadiy Freydlin
Credit to Papsheva Inna
Credit to Anna Skorko
Credit to Irina Larina
Alla Ebel’s feedback
Photo Collection by Alla Ebel
English
Czech
По-русски
The second (and last 🥲) day of Igor Andrianov’s exhibition gifted us with a wonderful intimate atmosphere and an engaging experience.
Yesterday’s vernissage was an undeniable success—there were so many people that you could hardly move (it reminded me of “Here everyone is, Nikita, Dyusha Metelkin” from prehistoric times). I want to highlight the quality of the video art, which beautifully immersed us in the theme; Igor collaborated with Alexander Karnovsky (who also served as the event’s DJ), and he made the right choice.
Arkadiy Freydlin wrote a good post about the meanings of the exhibition, but the artist disagreed with him, as well as with the curatorial text by Anton Litvin.
Therefore, the author’s tour of the exhibition today was particularly interesting. No, Igor didn’t have recommendations for us or answers to our questions about what to do with this human cruelty. He—an artist—merely “drives nails” into our consciousness, marking painful points. He has a hammer, but unfortunately no crowbar. However, he showed and explained to us the inscriptions in cow and bird languages.
Then we painted a picture together. The maestro started by dividing the canvas in half with a horizontal line. We followed him and also divided the world into lower chaos with skulls and upper grace with butterflies.
But the maestro returned and turned everything upside down again, adding blue and red, dynamics and drama, contrast and internal logic.
Children and dogs participated. A particularly tender duet formed between Odysseus Os’kin and Monica the pug, who crawled between the legs of those painting and filming, tapping their little nails on the floor in unison.
The painting turned out bright, unsettling, and quite reflective of our shared inner state.
A huge thank you to everyone for the co-creation; the experiment and performance were successful, in my opinion. Close-up photos of details from the painting will be posted separately.
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This weekend, we are in for mysteries and discoveries, as Igor Andrianov presents an exhibition of a new series of paintings titled “New Saints.”
They are fundamentally DIFFERENT.
And this time, the artist wants to talk to us in a different way.
Marina Abramovic said that “performance is not a result; it is a process.”Therefore, we will be fortunate to see both: the result on the walls and the process in the hall. We have performances awaiting us—one on Saturday and another on Sunday.
Today, November 16 at 7 PM at Chlumova 23, there will be a vernissage, high society, and mysterious creatures.
Tomorrow, November 17 at 5 PM, also there—a guided tour of the exhibition and an act of collaborative creation by several artists before our eyes.
It’s extremely engaging.
Let’s hurry and rush to see this chicken!
The exhibition-performance of the amazing artist and my dear friend Igor Andrianov (@Igor Shulman) is happening today in Prague.
It is very powerful.
I feel that it is about the holiness of Life.
Wonderful exhibition by my favorite master. Thank you, Igor Andrianov. You stirred my soul.
The second day of Igor Andrianov’s exhibition. The author talked about each work, and then we all painted a collective canvas together. It was great!
Yesterday at the exhibition of Igor Shulman in Prague.A wonderful artist ! Performance, paintings… There is something to think about… Well,and new acquaintances,very pleasant.
On November 16, 2024, a highly successful exhibition-performance by the renowned artist Igor Shulman took place in Prague, organized as part of the Kulturus program. The master presented a completely new concept for his works. All the exhibited pieces were united by a single idea, which became a very bold experiment.
The representation of domestic animals in a style echoing the canons of iconography was particularly interesting. Although this approach may have offended some feelings, Igor himself emphasized at the opening that his works pursue exclusively humanistic goals. For me, the artist’s attempt to rethink the concept of sacrifice in the context of the complex and contradictory relationship with domesticated animals resonated deeply.
On one hand, humanity has used animals for sustenance for centuries; on the other hand, we attribute human qualities to them, placing them on an empathetic level with people. This duality in our relationship with our lesser brothers raises numerous philosophical questions.
In my opinion, the author, perhaps without intending to do so, touched on key aspects of human nature. He raised one of the most painful and relevant topics of our time—the internal struggle of man, his relationship with sacrifice, and ultimately with war as a phenomenon born from this duality.
An amazing, fantastic, philosophical, and slightly sad exhibition that I attended yesterday… I am still impressed by the artist’s performance and his paintings…
The artist’s paintings are discussed by art historians who receive special education to uncover the “mystery of the concept.” Today, Igor Andrianov told us about his works. They are addressed to people through the eyes of animals, with texts about the amount of meat consumed. The animals’ eyes are sad and trusting because they are domestic; they have entrusted us with their fates, and we… Therefore, these animals exist in an aura of holiness, as if they are sinless before fate. A priest once told me: it is not right to call animals by human names. You raise a pig named Glasha, a goat named Masha, and then you slaughter them for meat—it is not good. Only humans are made in God’s image, and animals serve us. Millions of animals have no names; they are meat from birth. Igor decided to give an aura of holiness to all the animals he depicted. This is not a call to vegetarianism; it is an appeal from the weak and dependent beings to humanity. On the theme of “Humanity,” Igor asked us to paint a picture together, and we did. In the center of this humanity, a heart was drawn. Only a loving heart responds to the pain of others. Thank you, Igor, for the paintings, and may there be new non-commercial projects.
Everyone will find in the works of Igor Shulman what touches their soul deeply! Igor’s artworks have no temporal boundaries; they warm and create coziness in every home! In each canvas, there is a piece of his big and pure heart! Hurry to connect with the beautiful!!! I highly recommend it!