Interviewed by Vadym DYSHKANT
For several years the scaffolding was standing in the large old cathedral
located in the center of Ternopil and called Dominican by locals - from
sheer force of habit.
They said the artist from Kyiv was working alone in the cathedral. Recently
the scaffolding was removed, and everyone saw wonderful paintings in the
dome: clear bright colors, a large number of characters becoming one complicated
and elegant symphony of fine arts. The artist is Heorhy Zhuravsky. His
past includes studies in pedagogical and art institutes, work in the Foundation
of Fine Arts and in publishing houses, exhibitions, and an apartment in
Kyiv. All this he left and moved to Ternopil - to paint murals in cathedrals.
It was not that easy to talk the artist into an interview. Heorhy Ivanovych
did not want to talk about himself and first was skeptical of my journalistic
curiosity.
"Many people consider paintings to be mere cathedral ornaments. What
do you think of your work?"
"For an artist church murals are living artistic organisms mightily
influencing the human mind.
"An attitude towards church decorations only as ornaments drastically
simplifies this very complex task and gives rise to slapdash work. It is
like treating an architectural masterpiece as a shelter from the rain.
"When I started working in churches it was impossible to find even a
Bible, not to mention works of art critics on this problem. But we are
talking of a very complicated ensemble art that only conditionally can
be called church decoration. And it has its specific features. Intuition,
knowledge of various theories, history, and practical skills become one
single system here. One cannot learn it at one's desk, without risking
one's life, and sacrificing one's time, peace, and health. Knowledge comes
as a reward for the killing everyday work with a brush in your hand, when
you are alone with a wall's white surface somewhere high under the dome."
"What is your attitude toward art critics' recommendations?"
"Church creative works are completely based upon centuries-old traditions.
And an artist must know perfectly all the nuances of the history of arts:
from rock carvings to modern painting, from China to Patagonia. And here
art critics can help. But every theorist answers only what, where, and
when questions. A practical artist must know perfectly the answer to the
how question. To see does not always mean to understand. And this 'how'
in the art of church painting was passed from master to pupil like a precious
chalice. Since this tradition was broken we have to start from scratch.
And before the practical experience of such creative work is gained, any
art critics' generalizations are not worth a plugged nickel."
"What is the main difficulty of your work personally for you?"
"Perhaps it is the necessity to learn this great knowledge alone, working
as both teacher and student. Thus painting must be combined with research.
From morning to night I work on a scaffold, and evenings and weekends I
study the principles of connection between architecture and painting, religious
philosophy, Church history, symbolism, psychology of perception, etc. And,
of course, I read the Bible.
"Besides, one has to be a kind of conductor of an orchestra, in which
the various means of artistic expression are instruments. If you cannot
gild or model, for example, you will not be able to introduce these elements
in decoration, and your orchestra's sound will be worse."
"Doesn't such a frantic pace wear you out?"
"It is very important to program your life for several years of super-tension.
It is something like a marathon lasting many years. One has to work without
days off, not to fear heights, to paint in heat and cold. Sometimes one
has to do dangerous feats like a circus monkey: for example, to walk on
a narrow ledge on the level of the sixth floor - without safety ropes.
Or to paint all day long balancing on a narrow plank somewhere high under
the dome. Rather simple but very important everyday skills also will be
of use, for an artist who cannot hammer a nail properly when standing on
the scaffold is a danger to himself and others."
"How tight, in your opinion, is the connection between art and religion?"
"Many generations have been taught a primitive idea that art has nothing
in common with faith. One has to seek blindness too much to fail to see
the obvious: all nations' art has always been sacral, it attended man's
highest spiritual aspirations. With the aid of Beauty and symbols, painting
connected individual conscience and the Absolute Truth. And being the conductor
between God and man, art reached its heights and blossomed in all its beauty.
"Unfortunately, the abyss between art and faith is an old misfortune,
and not just ours. During several centuries art has slowly been changing
its direction, its heart has become infected with progress and individualism.
Contemporary Raphaels work in advertisement business perfecting images
of flashy cars and Snickers."
"Now, when so many churches are being built in our country, one often
can hear complaints that the level of decoration is not very high."
"As I have said before, the business of church decorating is new for
us, and thus many problems emerge. Rush and mistakes are unavoidable, we
do not have so many professional artists. That is why churches now are
often being painted by various people: plumbers, stock-breeders, and athletes.
Their trump card is speed. They cover large walls with paint faster than
any good house painter would paint a fence. In three months they paint
out spaces Michelangelo would need five years to decorate. These daubers
have not spent a single day studying the ABCs of art, they have no idea
what professional ethics are, but they earn good money believing in only
one principle: 'time is money.' But in church art speed is secondary. Just
imagine sped-up prayers, sermons, singing. In our daily life we have to
wait for an apple to ripen, for a soup to boil, for children to grow up.
Those who hire daubers do not even suspect that they will get not a masterpiece
but its semblance. Slapdash paintings on church walls can undermine the
church's prestige more than any atheistic propaganda."
"Heorhy Ivanovych, we would like to hear more about your life. For
example, how did you venture to leave the capital and move to the provinces?"
"There is a saying, 'You only live once, and you should do it in Kyiv.'
I, too, share the inspiration of this phrase, because I lived in Kyiv for
many years. Yes, there is some special atmosphere there, a special energy.
But the cause I serve does not know such concept as province. You know,
the distance to the Heaven is equal from Ternopil, Kozova (district center
in Ternopil region - Ed.), or from Kyiv and Paris. In olden times metropolitan
builders, artists, and architects used to live for a long time next to
churches they were building. For them it was the very hub of the world.
And metropolitan benefits can be sacrificed for that. Nothing comes without
sacrifice."
"You started decorating churches in Soviet times. Weren't you afraid?"
"I personally expected four years of prison. The work was underground
with the all corresponding emotions and fears. Painting churches was considered
the lowest of professional levels. As an artist one became an intellectual
vagabond who betrayed the ideals of art. As a citizen one stepped on the
path of overt confrontation with the state's ideology. Those were the reasons
why I could not say for many years where I worked."
"What was your wife's reaction to all this?"
"Calm. And now Roksana is interested in and studying special theoretical
literature and even makes interesting excerpts for me."
"But what was that crucial point that completely changed your life?"
"Perhaps, you will be surprised, but the revelation came with the Chornobyl
accident. I perceived that terrible catastrophe as a breakthrough to my
personal freedom. I visited the zone twice - on my own. And, incidentally,
the courage of the firemen who were deactivating the fourth reactor staggered
me. And then I came to the conclusion: the time has come... My inner slavery
ended. Those whom we feared were so frightened by what they themselves
had done that they had no time for us, soon they would be looking for an
uncontaminated place for themselves. The explosion revealed for me all
the absurdity of the measured Soviet mode of life. So-called progress showed
its true face. I hope the sarcophagus (and the name is very symbolic!)
has crowned the outgoing epoch of technology's and science's triumph and
opened a new era of the human spirit. Please understand me: I am not against
progress as such, but technocratic fanaticism makes me sick. I am convinced
that the church ensemble as a historical and cultural phenomenon is no
less complicated and strong in its influence on a human being than any
nuclear reactor. All this technocratic race and all the scientists' efforts
attempt to create comfort for the mortal body, while the Cause I serve
is directed to forming the spirit and search for eternal life."







