Steamy poses, ugly bodies, terrible drunken physiognomies - such is the first impression after acquaintance with the canvases of the Moscow artist Vasily Shulzhenko, whose work is considered very scandalous.
Transmitting familiar moments to almost everyone, the author’s paintings depict life from an unsightly side, as if in contrast to the generally accepted opinion that art should inspire and evoke high bright feelings in the viewer. From many Vasily Shulzhenko hears accusations of dislike for Russians, because instead of obvious vices of society and the image of the extreme degree of a person’s fall, he could draw great people, colorful beauties, gorgeous nature.
About the characters of Shulzhenko
The heroes of the paintings by Vasily Shulzhenko are desperate villagers who for the most part entertain themselves with booze. And nothing more. They almost lost their human appearance, doing things that are quite acceptable for them, but unacceptable and cause rejection in a person from another world.
Moreover, the evil they realize is mostly unconscious: people seem to not know what they are doing. Where does such a strange and malicious topic come from? According to the artist, the canvases depict images from childhood spent in the country near Kasimov.
Vasily Shulzhenko: paintings
The Amur canvas depicts Amur hovering over a pair of alcoholics - the same as them: with dirty hair, a bruised and drunken face. In the transmitted moment of the upcoming act of intercourse, there is neither eroticism nor pornography. Carnal intercourse is commonplace for two drunk people: a wilted woman who has fallen has no shame, and a man is not able to give affection. After the incident, the couple will calmly continue to engage in the main business of their life - alcohol libations.
The painting "Square" from the same opera: the people - to match their own leader. Vasily Shulzhenko depicted the usual life story: a disabled person lounging on a bench, an outrageously drunk man, whom either his mother or wife leads home. In the background, a character urinating for many years on the same shtaketin.
Time will pass. The heroes of the picture will go to another world, others will take their place. Nothing will change in the bust of the swollen Leader.
On the verge of being
Sometimes heroes come from the world, where there is still a line between good and evil.
Some have the hope of salvation, like that boy in a sailor jacket, who, perhaps, still has a chance not to follow in the footsteps of a drunken grandfather and his neighing brotherhood.
The girl from the painting Potato Sellers, apparently, will have to repeat the fate of her family; on the face of the child is already a seal waiting for her life.
Outrageous works of the artist
Creativity of Vasily Shulzhenko, which the author calls “figurative painting in the genre of free fantasy”, is shockingly different from the works of other artists and is perceived differently by the viewer.
Our compatriots believe that to show the shameful wrong side of domestic life is at least indecent. The foreign viewer reacts differently to the characters of the paintings written by Vasily Shulzhenko: he begins to feel sorry for them, sympathizes with their existence and the harsh conditions in which they are forced to survive.
Shulzhenko Vasily is an artist whose works are exhibited at the State Tretyakov Gallery, the KISSI Museum (USA, Oklahoma City), are in private collections in Russia and abroad, namely Italy, the USA, Finland, France, and Holland. Since 1972, is a participant in exhibitions of the city, republican and all-Union scale. Vasily Shulzhenko lives and works in Moscow.