By Dorothy Malcolm
When Josef Stalin put the bureaucratic breaks on Soviet artistic freedom, it became an era of wilderness for the passionate, Russian psyche. Despite those restrictions, "unsanctioned" works of art slowly crept into the Russian underground, then mainstreamed, and eventually burst into the public at the dawn of perestroika.
Loosely defined, the Russian word "perestroika" means new beginnings, an opening up of boundaries and of minds. With perestroika, comes breakdown of the old, then revitalization in the country's culture and its art, along with a Russian exodus to all parts of the globe. Boston is indeed fortunate to have a burgeoning Russian community. Luckier still are we to have one of Russia's most respected artists: Born in Siberia, Valentina Nekrash studied art in Moscow and spent most of her youth rendering "official/sanctioned" works for the government. Between raising her two sons, she painted portraits of Lenin, Stalin, Pushkin, Tolstoy, and the (sanctioned) epitome of Soviet life.
Valentina works in oils and shines in the realm of icons (primarily Saviors and Madonnas) executed with a deft impressionist hand. Yet she never loses the golden and refilled but crackled patina so striking in antique icons. Her series of angels conjure up images of Dresden dolls, some in postures of ballet dancers, while others in crestfallen defeat and weariness. She manages to blend emotional imagery with the ethereal and the visceral. In addition to her liturgical arts, are her dream images, somewhat surreal, sometimes veiled, but always vibrant.
Because Valentina is a universalist with no dying passion for politics, her private works were not particularly "suspect" though nonetheless provocative in their naivete'. While some of her oil paintings might have raised a few official eyebrows, what generally followed was a softening of the viewer's perception. Most evident in her paintings is, first and foremost, her love affair with Russia, then man's immortality and the spiritual sweep of humanity.
Though her roots and soul are Russian, Valentina breathes more freely now that the turmoil in Russia is behind her. She claims her colors have become softer since she emigrated just two years ago. Several of her newer abstracts are rendered in dove grays, peaches, taupes, olives and traces of mauve and sienna. Still, numerous oils are sheathed in golds, reds, yellows, oranges and sometimes gold leaf. Many of Valentina's abstracts feel (visually) hot to the touch, while others shiver like white ice.
Some of Valentina's works, particularly her icons were on display and represented Russia for the Ritz-Carlton's International Cultural Festival. She is represented by Atelier Panache, Boston, (617) 437 - 8888.
Dorothy Malcolm is the owner and chief writer of Hallmark Career Prose, Boston, Ink