Mystic “Wall”
Matvii Vaisberg’s exhibition opens at the National Art Museum of Ukraine
The exhibit “Wall” is going to present paintings that were created during the last year. The artist dedicated the exhibit to the memory of his mother Shelia Hartsman. A series of 32 paintings that are a part of the “Scenes from Tanakh” cycle, which is dedicated to interpretation of the Holy Scripture, are the center of the exposition. The author of the vernisage says that he was inspired by works of Hans Holbein, an early representative of the Northern Renaissance art (and by his engravings illustrating the Bible in particular). The masterminds of the exhibit emphasize that Vaisberg, despite the traditions formed by his creative work, comes not as the illustrator of the Old Testament, but as the interpreter of the canonical scenes in this exhibition. And it is not the religious background but the mysticism permeating the Israeli land that the author is interested in. Vaisberg started working on the cycle four years ago. This year’s series became a final touch to the large-scale project. The artist does not allow any distortion or mutilation of Holbein’s plots and compositions, instead he delicately interprets them in his works.
“While visiting Israel, I went to a remote monastery, which was located somewhere in the middle of the desert,” the artist shared. “It was there that I understood that this minimalistic landscape is perfectly suitable for a profound turning point in ideology, a transition to monotheism, which is now native to our civilization. And when it comes to Jerusalem, the place just makes you turn into a mystic.”
The visitors will also be able to see the artist’s earlier paintings at the National Art Museum, such as Wailing Wall, Jaffa Gate by Night, and Crucifixion. Famous collectors, politicians, businessmen, cultural figures, and artists came to pay tribute to Vaisberg’s work on the opening day. The exhibit will be open till September 30.
The name of painter and graphic artist Matvii Vaisberg is associated with the establishment of arriere-garde in Kyiv. Vaisberg got his training as an artist at the Taras Shevchenko Republican Secondary School of Arts, later completing his formal education at the department of book graphics at the Kyiv Polygraphic Institute. He has illustrated works by Sholem Aleichem, Eduard Bagritsky, Grigorii Kanovich, Jose Ortega y Gasset (Spanish Sketches), Karl Gustav Jung (Memories, Dreams, Reflections), Soren Kierkegaard (Fear and Trembling), and Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Demons). Since 1989 Vaisberg has taken part in numerous exhibits in Ukraine and abroad. His works are displayed at the Kyiv National Museum of Russian Art, Zaporizhia Oblast Museum of Art, Gaon Jewish Museum in Vilnius, Lithuania, and are part of private collections in the US, Israel, Greece, Great Britain, Sweden, South African Republic, Austria, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Canada, Japan, Turkey, Italy, Poland, Netherlands, France, Germany, Russia, etc.
