9 works by contemporary Russian artists about space (PICS)

Ivan Razumov, 'World'

Nikolay Fyodorov, one of the founders of Russian cosmism, dreamed of resurrecting all people: Having formed a giant ‘khorovod’ (circle folk dance), they would disperse to different planets. Ivan Razumov was inspired by this idea when painting his artwork 'World': Gathered in a folk dance, people seem to be sending a space station off on its way. 

Agne Marija Silkinaite, 'Three Wayfarers'

This artist frequently turns to the theme of space and has created several series devoted to its exploration. For example, 'Kaluga-Mars' is executed not on canvas or paper, but on a triple-layer composite honeycomb panel - such panels are used to build rocket fairings.

Dmitry Shorin, 'Second Cosmic Velocity'

"Can you give me a lift to Mars?" According to the St. Petersburg artist, this is roughly what interstellar travel will soon look like: A female extraterrestrial at the wheel of a space Lexus and her passenger from Earth are plotting a route on the map. And they are about to accelerate to escape velocity - the so-called second cosmic velocity - of 11.2 km per second. Will the astronaut in a spacesuit, reflected in the rear view mirror, be able to keep up with them?

Nastya Miro, 'Bride's Dream'

While working on a series of paintings about the ‘Buran’ space shuttle, the artist made several trips to Baikonur to learn about the history of the Soviet ‘Energia-Buran’ space transport program. The shuttle made its one and only voyage in 1988 and orbited the Earth twice, after which it stood in the cosmodrome for many years, until a hangar roof collapsed and destroyed it. Just as the developers of the orbiter believed that it would be of use in the future and would again make trips to the stars, so a girl in a wedding dress has hopes for a new life.

Sergey Katran, 'Voyager 3'

In the distant past, letters and documents were written on birch bark. Artist Sergey Katran used this material for a message to the inhabitants of distant planets. The Voyager probes carried special golden records containing slides with views of Earth, scientific data, the coordinates of the solar system and greetings in 55 languages of the world. On his Voyager 3 birch bark discs, Katran compiled drawings from the golden records, images of extraterrestrials and even a greeting from the Vulcans in 'Star Trek'.

Alexey Begak, 'Gagarin'

The artist has literally put together a portrait of the first man in space from memories of the past - he used clippings from newspapers published on April 13, 1961, the day after Gagarin's flight on the Vostok spaceship.

Dmitry Shagin, 'Laika, Tereshkova & Leonov'

The artist has portrayed the heroes of space exploration as characters on postage stamps - it would be hard to imagine a greater level of public prominence. And it is indeed true that Valentina Tereshkova, Alexei Leonov and Belka and Strelka were known by absolutely everyone.

Marina Zvyagintseva, 'Solaris'

The artist has depicted the rational ocean of the Planet Solaris using a bio-type technique. Spreading over the fabric surface, the paint forms a unique design that can be construed however one chooses.

Damir Muratov, 'Bears on Mars'

The artist decided to produce his own take on a design traditionally used for Soviet wall hangings - Ivan Shishkin’s famous painting of bears. They have escaped from their pine forest to check out some rockets that have landed on Mars. In addition to the bears, Muratov has made another work in a similar style titled: 'Deer on the Moon'.

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