Nikolai Polissky is the father of Russian land art

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Polissky Nikolai Vladimirovich ("Uncle Kolya") is the founding father of Russian land art, who, according to him, "came out of the snowmen on the slope." Born in 1957, graduated from the Mukhinskoe School, became the only Muscovite in the Leningrad art group "Mitki" and until 2000 quietly engaged in traditional landscape painting. But at the beginning of the new millennium, the same event took place - the birth of Russian land art on a hillside near the village of Nikola-Lenivets, Kaluga Region.

Snowmen

It all started with snowmen. Polissky's first major project, involving an entire army of local peasants, unlocked the potential of the simple Russian landscape. The abandoned, useless space was transformed - now a lot of snowmen climbed the previously empty slope, marking the opening of a new era of Russian monumental art. The villagers rejoiced, rolled snowballs with pleasure, and the metropolitan snobs declared: snowmen are the swan song of Polissky. But it turned out exactly the opposite.

Hay-straw

The author's concept soon matured - rethinking historical architectural forms and making them in their own village from improvised materials. And the hay in the villageenough. But by definition, only a haystack can be made from it. But what a stack! A real tower of Babel. Hay laying technology suggested to builders that it can be arranged in the form of a ziggurat ramp. The whole village was occupied in the construction of the tower - local drunks with scythes were the first to pull themselves up, then all the rest. This marked the beginning of a new author's trend - the construction of archaic forms from no less archaic materials. They laughed at the tower in Russia - but it was noticed abroad, and away we go - Polissky and his assistants from the village became active participants in international exhibitions of contemporary art. The peasants of the Russian hinterland have been abroad for the first time.

Recognition

Starting from 2002, Polissky's art objects began to spread across the Earth. In each city or country, the artist first of all sought to find out what materials were typical for the area. So his objects became something new, and at the same time familiar anywhere in the world, organically fitting into the urban or natural landscape. So, in the wine-growing region of France, he installed a massive column made of vines, a gate made of driftwood in Perm, a kind of cubic crow's nest made of willow branches in the industrial zone of Moscow.

Two-headed

The program, which includes the use of archaic forms, perfectly fit the totem poles of the "Empire's Borders" object, installed all the same, in the village of Nikola-Lenivets. Two-headed birds, perched on dilapidated logs, look rather ironic -rather vultures than eagles. Part of this object is included in the permanent exhibition of the Erarta Museum in St. Petersburg.

The artist turned to the coat of arms once again - the Firebird project was shown there at Shrovetide in 2008.

Archstoyanie

In 2006, Nikolai Polissky became the founder of the Archstoyanie festival, held twice a year on the banks of the Ugra River. The founders of the festival claim that the venue of the festival coincides with the place of the historical Standing on the Ugra River, hence the name. And the element "arch" can be interpreted in different ways: as "architecture", "archetype", "archaic". All these interpretations will find a place at the festival. Most of the objects of the festival are interactive - you can climb into them, ride, even jump. Among the local attractions there is the largest trampoline in Europe with a length of 50 meters. Recently, another part of the project has been opened - the children's Archstoyanie, where educational and play stations operate. Land art began to gain popularity in Russia precisely because of this festival. Every year, along with other authors, Nikolai Polissky himself takes part in the Archstoyanie. The artist's works attract everyone's attention of the participants and visitors of the festival.

Nikola-Lenivets Park

There, in the park, which arose as a result of the festivals around Nikola-Lenivets, there are several more buildings of Polissky. The Universal Mind, a collection of giant wood and metal columns leading to a wooden megamind, is stylized as an ancienttemple architecture. "Selpo", which arose on the ruins of an abandoned store, also looks like a temple of an unknown religion. When building up Nikola-Lenivets, Nikolai Polissky, an artist, tries to think like an architect and urban planner. There are small similarities of either the Eiffel or the Ostankino TV Tower (“Media Tower”), the Georges Pompidou Center (“Beaubourg”), a lighthouse on the river bank, on the site of the first snowmen and a hay tower. The artist turns ruins and wastelands into large-scale works of art. His objects do not last long - the aesthetics of destruction is as important to the author as the energy of creation. And some works are even created in order to burn in a festive fire.

New Art

Land art as a trend in art emerged relatively recently, but many experts predict a great future for it. It is not just a form of sculpture or architecture, it is the art of the environment, the purpose of which is to change the worldview of modern urban man. Nikolai Polissky successfully copes with this task, and every year an army of caring people gathers in his village. The artist often works in series or creates interpretations of old works (snowmen, towers, gates are especially often repeated in his work) and scatters them around the world, thanks to which more and more people learn about him and are imbued with the spirit of his work. Polissky is not just one of the most famous Russian artists, but also one of the world's most famous land art creators.