Myths. Myths occupy a large part in the life of every person. And it really is. Although someone will say that legends and myths in the modern conditions of an urban, scientific and information-rich society are a relic of the past. But when you look more attentively and deeper into the very essence of every detail of our life, the existence of myths will become quite obvious. After all, they live inextricably linked with each of us.
Hey! This text has been translated into English using automatic Google translation. So I apologize for the inaccuracies in the text. The original in Russian can be seen here
And maybe even more than before. And certainly not to a lesser extent today’s world, society and, accordingly, art and painting depend on myths. You just have to look around and everything will fall into place. Since ancient times, the so-called “remnants of the past” have been preserved – ancient pagan rituals, beliefs and superstitions that live among the people. At least take the same holidays that are widely celebrated here in the Vitebsk region: Maslenitsa, Ivan Kupala, “Dzyady” and many others. And superstitions are about a black cat, about a mirror and other fears that are widespread among our people. We should not forget fairy tales, beliefs about the origin of cities, legends of various villages about ghosts that scare children. All this has been perfectly preserved to this day.
But myths should be called not only all the old legends about bygone events and past centuries, but also some part of the modern creativity of the people and people of art, such as writers and artists. After all, someone once came up with a legend about the emergence of the city of Vitebsk. Many things of the past have now become beautiful mythology, but then they were not considered as such. So today – someone will come up with a beautiful fairy tale and tell it to a friend, and he will pass the story on. Or in some locality a new tradition will be started on a significant occasion, and it will be remembered and will be maintained from year to year further into the future. This is how myths are created by word of mouth. Therefore, we can say that myths occupy a huge share in the creative life of every person working in the field of art. Moreover, such interest is clearly visible among artists. There are, of course, those who write only landscapes, still lifes or portraits. But it cannot be said that they are not at all interested in this topic. Perhaps somewhere in their thoughts or even sketches they turn to this issue. After all, myths are an interesting, peculiar topic that requires special attention and attitude. Sometimes they are already fascinating in themselves, and what can I say when this or that legend is displayed in the interpretation of the artist. This is a different world, which has its own laws and its own conditions for the existence of the situation.
In Vitebsk, one can name quite a few names of artists who, one way or another, turned to myths, displaying them in their paintings indirectly or directly. But now I would like to pay attention to only one of them – this is Oleg Zakharevich. He is a fairly well-known Vitebsk artist. Works in such areas as creative composition, partly portrait and still life. Among other genres, the author’s appeal to the theme of myths is well traced. Most often these are the directions of ancient Greek and Roman myths. One can recall the following series of works by the author: “Icarus”, “Golden Fleece”, “Artemis”, “Helen of Troy”, “The Rape of Europe”, “Mermaid” and other paintings. In them, Zakharevich recreates the world of old myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome through the transmission of specific images and actions. But not everything here is as clear as it seems at first glance. It would seem that the artist writes individual works in the context of classical Greek mythology, and this is where the problem of myths ends. However, it should be noted that myths are not only a reflection of fairy tales, legends and traditions.
In the field of art, in the paintings created by artists, a special kind of mythology arises – the author’s myth. In it, the creator creates his own world, which obeys its own laws, it has its own mood and its own weather. And all this is created by the artist on the canvas, sometimes depicting quite ordinary things. Therefore, we can say that a much larger range of works falls under the category of myths in the work of the artist Zakharevich than it seems at first glance. These are such canvases of the author as: “Journey in a dream on a green tiger”, “Flying in a balloon”, “Crossing”, “Rite”, “Melody of the passing day”, “Warrior of Light” and other numerous paintings in which the master shows not only a boat, a ball or a person, but also conveys his own vision of the world, a given moment of space and time. He creates a situation in which there is a feeling not of the real world, but of some other one, where there is a strange light, as in the work “Warrior of Light”, or a feeling of unusual air or space, as in the work “Crossing”. The feeling of a special world, turning into a kind of myth, can also be felt in such works, where, by working out individual details of the environment, the human figure, Zakharevich creates a peculiar structure. Various color and light spots converge and diverge in it, forming a whole picture of a peculiar worldview.
Myths and creativity is a very complex concept and relationship that requires a more detailed consideration of the problem, but nevertheless, we can say with full confidence that this is a very interesting and promising trend in art. Not only is it actively developing now, but it is worth remembering how interested the masters of past years were in it. Mythology has always excited and will continue to excite not only the minds of creators, but also the hearts of viewers who are happy and grateful for such a beautiful expression of their favorite fairy tales, legends, myths.
