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San Francisco Monday 1871
Irena Orlov
New collection "The Link of Times. Contemporary Abstract with a touch of Antique."
The unique material that I use - Original Rare Antique Newspapers printed in 17th, 18th century.
Mixed Media 24x24" on canvas.
Unique Collage Painting created with Original Rare Antique Newspaper printed in 1871, San Francisco California, acrylic and oil. World of color, textures and shapes.
Currently exhibited at the THE HAPPENING GALLERY
4047 Lincoln Blvd
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
310 305 ARTS (2787)
http://www.thehappeninggallery.com/Irena_Orlov.html
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.226903947345701.47215.100000782926213&l=eec6fe5c14&type=1
Newspapers have their own history as if they are mirrors of human mode of that time. They are unbiased chroniclers of the era they come from. Most of the newspapers belong to 17-19th century. I’m thrilled when I touch pieces of the newspapers because I touch frozen moments of past centuries. I feel breath of life at this moment. I can’t describe my emotions when I hold torn yellowish newspaper in my arms, it’s like as if there is a connection between me and a person who used to hold the same newspaper in his or her hands centuries ago. Newspapers can tell a lot of interesting stories from the past. My imagination explodes picturing moment of that everyday life. Time flied, babies were born, they grew and became adults. After they found their happiness and completed their missions, they died leaving behind something tangible – newspapers. I can’t be indifferent reading these newspapers. There is a invisible spiritual bridge between past and future cultures that crosses time lines. This energy and ideas behind these newspapers charge me. It pushes me to create new art structures – new art pieces. In other words, I transform these old ideas and antique media into a new concept, new language to express new ideas and thoughts.
Irena Orlov: A Contemporary Piece of the Past
You might say that Irena Orlov has an eccentric style, or in the very least a novel approach to the contemporary. The discarded remnants of past centuries are her canvas, she takes newspapers from the 17th and 18th century and turns them into contemporary abstract art – with a touch of the antique. The newspapers give her paintings a unique texture and liveliness, while her eye for aesthetic principles seems an afterthought, unintentional, and at times subconscious. It may very well be that her architectural background allows her to interpret the newspaper stories as they affect her thoughts, or as she puts it, “My art is my soul’s response to reality.”
Just knowing what she is painting on gives her work a ghostly quality – a depth so often lacking in modern contemporary art – that sparks the imagination, and the feeling is magnified when face to face with her work. It’s almost as if her paintings want to tell a story. In creating her work Irena said she feels “as if there is a connection between me and a person who held the same newspaper centuries ago,” if anything, it would be difficult for art connoisseurs not to have that same feeling. Irena’s work manages to capture something spectacular, like a frosted mirror, or a disjointed kaleidoscopic vision of the past. In any case she has a style that would fit right into a gallery showing, or on any dining room wall for that matter.
On her website Irena displays quite a bit of variety, and it looks like there’s more to come: landscapes, floral paintings, and some expertly crafted collages. Altogether she displays a rather impressive level of diversity, but always maintains a true sense of direction. She also has work available on Fine Art America that is worth viewing, that should tide us over until – hopefully – she does another gallery showing here in L.A. For those of you who aren’t Angelinos, well, you have my condolences.
- M. M. Mohica
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