Susan Seddon Boulet [1941-1997] Brazilian

Olga Grechina Russian born February 4, 1947

Olga Grechina graduated from the College of Art at the Moscow State Art Institute, named after Surikov V. I. in 1972, and from the Graphic Faculty of the same institute in 1974. After graduation, she worked in “Agitplakat”, and for many years in graphic design - lithography, etching, engraving, and silk-screen. The artist created some series on contemporary and historical themes, which were notable for their complexity, by applying the principles of installation, and combining several different themes one sheet. At the end of the 1970's, Grechina started serious experiments in painting, striving to “translate” the speculative constructions of the graphic sheets to the language of the vigorous plasticity of painting. Grechina feels that painting “cast off the chains of literalism which are necessary in graphic design”. In changing her technique, she did not abandon attempts to find a system of painting which could adequately recreate the complexity and inconsistency of the contemporary world; the world in which the beauty and the affirmation of life get mixed up with absurdity and commonplaces, where the temptations of the consumer's civilization dominate, and the natural beauty of youth can be coarsened (“Girls from Otradnoe”, 1980; “New District”, 1989; etc.). The artist shows her contemporaries gazing intently into their lives, which are defined by their lifestyle in the rhythm of the big industrial city. Their world gladdens and simultaneously disappoints. It appears distinctly visible, sometimes rude, fantastic, and at the same time unable to be definitively interpreted. Now and then, Grechina directly turns to the portrait, images of her colleagues. She emphasizes their character, their tendency toward reflection, and their serious attitude towards their business (“Reflection”, 1989; “The Artist in the Rain”, 1989; “The Artist", Grechina decisively breaks off with the limpness, tonelessness and carelessness of thoughts and feelings characteristic of most paintings of their time. The picturesque style of Grechina's large canvases is connected with the style prevailing in Russia in the mid - 1970's, called “photo-realism”. It was based on copying photoimages, increasing them to the dimensions of the large canvas, and including them in the structure of paintings. The smooth, glossy surface and light reflecting from glass, metal, and plastic give not only maximum clearness to the image, but also uniqueness to the subject. The special characteristic of Grechina's pictures is that together, with the clearness of the images she seems to overcome it by intensity of painting. She freely uses the pale imposition of paint by actively echoing the spirited image to deliberately “lubricate” the clearness of the photograph. Dynamic and complex comparisons of the figures and objects and the “tangled nature* of her plans distinguish the compositional constructions of many of her pictures. She unavoidably attracts attention by the use of daring and unusual solutions, which give birth to a chain of associations, seemingly inviting to discover of the essence of what is depicted (“A Corridor”, 1993; “ln the Expectation of the Ball”, 1994; “The Road to the Carnival*, 1997-1998; “Wedding”, 1996). In 1998-1999 Grechina created a series called “Nature”, in which the principles of photo-realism are repeatedly and distinctly expressed. The artist sees unknown possibilities in this area. In her new works she turns to the world of simple things, such as pumpkins, summer squashes, separate flowers, agave leaves, and the fragments of a garden fence. These are pictures that occupy the entire canvas (“Pumpkin on the Field”, “From the Life of the Squashes Family”, “The Rose”, “Agave”, “Rural Paling”). These enormous images imitate photographs, but their exaggerated sizes and forced color make it necessary to search for a concealed meaning and symbolism. These works' wealthy nature is meant to be enthusiastically perceived, not just contemplatively admired. L.I. Akimova