Label Text:
In contrast to the modernist fascination with the machine, Pavel Filonov—among the most outstanding artists and theorists of the 20th century—praised manual labor, craftsmanship, and meticulous study of nature. Filonov believed that an artwork must be the result of extreme concentration and effort, and he advised young artists to “draw each atom persistently and accurately.” He drew with a thin stylus and painted with the tiniest brushstrokes, carefully manipulating every bit of the work’s surface and building his works from small elements, the way that human bodies are composed of cells. The tremendous tension of the artist’s mind is vividly reflected even in his small drawings, which, despite their size, appear monumental. With this method, which he named “analytical art,” Filonov sought to analyze and reveal the hidden life of matter and the depths of the human mind. That is why one of the most frequent motifs in his art are human heads—alive, dead, or somewhere in between, whole and fragmented, coming together and dissolving into the fabric of the universe. In these works, Filonov paid special attention to the eyes, juxtaposing what he called “the seeing eye” and “the insightful eye,” that is, the eye that does not simply see but has an insight into the essence of things.
Maria Timina
Tags:
heads; faces; abstract Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2001.287 |
