Interview

Written By Adelé Kotzé

Garegin Protopopov

Garegin Protopopov was born in 1979 in Moscow, in a family of hereditary artists and architects. He studied to become a jeweler at the Carl Faberge Lyceum of Decorative and Applied Arts, Moscow, Russia. In 2002, he graduated from the Moscow State University of Fine Arts named after S.G. Stroganov, where he studied Art History and Art Theory. For several years, Garegin worked in Alexander Popov`s and Vladimir Mikhailov`s stained-glass studio and took part in the restoration of stained-glass windows of the Novoslobodskaya metro station in Moscow, Russia.

The artist was also engaged in mosaics production. Namely, he participated in the restoration of mosaics of most pavilions of VDNKh Expo center in Moscow, Russia and created mosaic decoration for the St. Sava Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia. Garegin is Co-founder of gold and colored smalt production "Goldsmalt" goldsmalt.ru. Since 2023, he decided to devote himself to painting and creativity, where he connects his love for color and beauty with all the experience accumulated over the years of working with noble metals, stone and colored glass. As an artist, he reinvents his world.

 

What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?

“I was born in 1979 in Moscow, in a family of hereditary artists and architects. I studied to become a jeweller at the Carl Faberge Lyceum of Decorative and Applied Arts, Moscow, Russia. In 2002, I graduated from the Moscow State University of Fine Arts named after S.G. Stroganov, where I studied Art History and Art Theory. For several years, I worked in Alexander Popov`s and Vladimir Mikhailov`s stained-glass studio and took part in the restoration of stained-glass windows of the Novoslobodskaya metro station in Moscow, Russia. Since 2023, I decided to devote myself to painting and creativity, where I connect my love for colour and beauty with all the experience accumulated over the years of working with noble metals, stone and coloured glass. Since I was a child, I have been in the creative environment of my father - an honoured monumental artist, among reproductions, sketches and of course among the canvases and aromas of oil paint. The noble interiors - antique furniture, miniatures in gilded frames, art objects - influenced the formation of my aesthetic taste, which was later strengthened by acquaintance with the history of art, museums and numerous exhibitions. I have always dreamed of working in colour. It has always attracted me and stirred my imagination, ever since I became acquainted with the work of the Impressionists. I had a dream to reveal my relationship to colour through paint. For many years I have been busy building a successful career as an entrepreneur in another field. Finally, I made up my mind... I have moved. A sense of freedom, peace and enjoyment of beauty filled me. It became a powerful impulse to realise my dream.”

What inspires you?

“I am inspired by travelling and new experiences, historical architecture and culture, music and yachting. Visiting museums and exhibitions. Expressive textures and textures, combinations of shades and shapes, exquisite fragrances. Landscapes and their fragments, caught at the point of revealing their beauty, details, the essence of things, their design, fractal structure and the logic of lines reveal to me the world of perfect proportions, integrity and infinite harmony. It is a true state of rapture that I want to capture, and a lofty sentiment that I want to share.”

What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?

“I am very close to avant-garde art movements such as symbolism, modernism and meta modernism. These movements encode a message to the viewer, visual signs and symbols. Through stylisation, technique and colour to convey one's attitude to reality as a subject of perception. The concept of my art is to reinterpret reality. I work on creating meanings. One of them is the life-affirming idea of renewal, the integrity of the world, infinite harmony, the Divine beginning. The old world, with its outdated ideals, full of cynicism and prejudice, needs rebirth and resetting. My task is to awaken awareness, to create a message, an ode, a reminder of the Divine origin of the World and to visualise a new paradigm of goodness and light.”

“I am very close to avant-garde art movements such as symbolism, modernism and meta modernism. These movements encode a message to the viewer, visual signs and symbols.”

How would you describe your work?

“My art is born where my feelings reach their highest point, and therefore it is as honest as possible. I create new spaces where you can meditate and start a dialogue with yourself. My work is filled with emotions of joy and the delight of contemplation expressed through colour. Being in a space of timelessness and symbolism one can immerse oneself and meet one's own self, find freedom. The universe has created an ideal world of proportions, everything has a creative intent and a particle of the Creator.”

Which artists influence you most?

“Inspired by the colours and spirituality of Nicholas Roerich's works, I connect my art to the main aspects of the Russian cosmism philosophy. Freedom and spiritual space resonate strongly with me, which is why I feel drawn to large canvases: it is in them that I can convey a wide range of forms, shades, depth of space and impressions, as well as well as lay down the cosmic scale and mysterious grandeur of nature. The images seem to exist out of time, have no shadows and float in weightlessness, having no connection to the earthly. My father is a muralist painter, with his sense of colour and originality of angles. Impressionists: Monet, Van Gogh, Degas - the founders of the original technique and application of colour. Roerich - with his philosophical vision, cosmology and fantastic colour vision, Filonov - with his fractality and pixels, Rousseau - naive fairy tale world, pure and rich colour, convention and stylisation, Georgia O'Keefe - unknown worlds seen inside a flower, close-up details of flowers floating in the air.”

 What is your creative process like?

“I always have ideas to visualise on canvas. I experience a state of transcendence, an impulse comes to me that I am energised by and I put that energy into the work. There are works that I plan and think about, especially if it's a series of works, and each work is thought about individually and has a meaning. But, there are those that come spontaneously, formed from an impression.”

What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?

“The artist invites and involves into his worlds filled with atmosphere and meanings. He builds a dialogue with the viewer and transmits his vision, triggers the process of rethinking. It opens the way to self-knowledge, has an aesthetic and ideological impact on the person, creates a resonance for rethinking reality. My paintings seek to affect the senses of the viewer: the vision and colour sense of peace, freedom and cosmos carry the life-affirming idea of renewal.”

Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?

“My exhibitions include Synergy 2023 (Miami), The Holy Art 2023 (London, Athens). I am currently on my way to exhibiting and I am very attentive to which exhibitions to participate in. Participating in exhibitions and fairs is a great opportunity to show my artwork to a wide audience, to find an audience, to communicate with other artists, curators, gallerists, as well as to travel and talk about my paintings, series of works and meanings, and of course to make deals.”

 
Adelé Kotzé
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