Alexey Parygin Quotes (1964-)

“A city is a narrative — either lyric, or impressionistic, or futuristic and gnarled space that rattles, clinks, and clatters like an iron plate. A city is by no means just a landscape. A city is a social and cultural environment. A city is a labyrinth. A city is an illusion. A city is a memory. A city is a utopia. A city is an abstract idea. Urbanistic poetry and prose on the verge of post-urbanism. A large city is usually Babylon: a blend, which is sometimes eclectic; a juxtaposition of contrasts; a dialogue and a conflict at the same time. A unity generated by differences. Some things are "old" about it and some things are "new". A city deprived of development is boring; a city deficient in historical context is sapless. That said, a city without a clear architectural idea is featureless and provincial.”

“A marker of post-urban tendencies in contemporary society, to a certain extent, is the ever-increasing interest in archaic practices of clan-tribal identification: tattoos, scarification, piercing, various types of body deformation, implantation and branding. Modern subcultures are no longer limited solely to slang, graffiti, or image. This social vector is not a random and temporary phenomenon. Rather, on the contrary, human nature, the archetypal nature compressed by artificial boundaries, seeks a way out.”

“The process was designed like that: my performance partner and I were standing opposite each other at a distance of about three meters. While reading the text, with arms straight up and slightly apart (palms outward), we gradually raised our arms in a stylized gesture of a traditional intercessory prayer iconographically referring to the classical image of the Virgin Hodegetria. The incense was burning. A whitish trickle of sweet smoke was slowly stretching towards the ceiling, emphasizing the sacredness of the two-voiced hosanna repeated over and over again: Art is a Business; Business is an Art. Art is a Business; Business is an Art. Art is a Business; Business is an Art; Art is a Business; Business is an Art.... A rhythmic, monotonous sound.”

“The double front doors were skillfully camouflaged, barred up with meter-long sheets of old partially rusted tin with inch-thick boards nailed across them. Thick curved nails (glued with epoxy resin) stuck out of wood and iron. Everything was well thought out and the scenery looked convincing. To the right of the door frame, an inhospitable wire with two bare contacts was hanging. You needed to close them to make the bell ring in the depths of the apartment. In case everyone left the workshop, there was a way to securely close the entrance. For this purpose, a strong and heavy inter-door hook and a system of levers were used. The door could be opened and closed by means of two external rope ends tied to the latch. Seeing this mechanism in action always made an indelible impression on newcomers.”

“Another important direction in contemporary Russian artists’ books, with many precedents set by the Futurists, is the fusion of poetic and artistic talent of artist-authors blessed with Doppelbegabung. The intimate relationships between text and image is enhanced when author and artist are one and the same person and engage in an inter-art discourse that leads to creations that are truly unified works of art. An artist who achieved equal mastery in more than one medium and made different arts merge in his personality was no doubt Alexey Parygin. His poetic collections represent an attempt to synthesize text and plastic figurative form in books where literary and visual languages are calculated to have a simultaneous effect on the reader/viewer. The work of Alexey Parygin have common features that are not accidental as the books were created at more or less the same time.”

“...from my point of view, a very serious, worthy and professional exhibition. It's nice that there is a solid culture of color, ...there is a persistent desire to express their feelings of life, their artistic vision.”

“His works show high culture, erudition and taste, it is hard to favor any particular piece. Moreover, the artist prefers options on a particular plastic theme, as he himself puts it. He uses various in techniques, and revisits it in different periods of creativity. He believes his plastic theme conveys the plastic state. The state arises and manifests in very different ways, yet retaining its basic sign. Perhaps this art form blends both the sign and its notion.”

“The works create new poetry, which involuntarily rivals with habitual esthetic stereotypes. For instance, we accept as a common notion to worship joyously the classic beauty of St. Petersburg, its harmony and stately grandeur. This exposition does have variations of that sort. But observe “Night Nevsky” by Parygin. Rough to the touch texture, dark abyss. In the darkness urgent lights explode. They bring forth immediate spiritual angst. One does not regard the regal magnificence of the urban landscape-it is neither cast aside, nor left behind the curtains, as dramatism of modern perception takes over. One regards not a city museum for curious crowds, but one beholds the habitat of our days where we seek, love, fight, suffer. That art defines perception.”