Vaslav 2017

Curator: Here we have Andrey Remnev's 2017 painting, "Vaslav," an alluring mixed-media piece. What are your immediate thoughts? Editor: My first impression is that the piece has a certain dreamlike quality, a very regal, ornate quality—almost like a Byzantine icon meets contemporary portraiture. There’s a feeling of fragmentation here too. Curator: Indeed. It’s tempting to situate Remnev's work within a longer trajectory of Russian figurative art. "Vaslav" engages with symbolism, borrowing imagery from Russian folklore and traditional iconography. The ornate details point toward his deep engagement with the past, specifically the legacy of Imperial Russia. Editor: I see it, the costume feels historical, the gold leaf, yet that stark blue almost tears the image apart, fragmenting her. Perhaps a commentary on how historical narratives often obscure individual experience. Look at her face—that feels utterly contemporary. What do we know about Vaslav? Curator: Well, this is almost certainly Vaslav Nijinsky. Though androgynous in his youth, here he is very explicitly female, raising complex questions of identity and representation. Remember, the early 20th century avant-garde adored Nijinsky for his innovative choreography and rebellious spirit, even though it would cause the end of his career as his mental health deteriorated, ostracizing him for "degenerate" sexuality and dance. Editor: So in the Russian Federation today, how is Nijinsky, this champion of "Degenerate Art", now seen by the culture establishment given the nation's current politics surrounding LGBTQ persons? The gold could signify how reputations endure through official cultural structures while that disjunctive blue disrupts an easy narrative, asking us to consider all sides. Even the hoopoes seem to point us beyond the frame of conventional history! Curator: Exactly. And Remnev, positioning Nijinsky within the visual language of power, offers an opportunity to really reflect on how official cultural structures reinforce particular social orders—even unintentionally excluding or distorting lived experiences. Editor: The artwork complicates conventional notions of visibility and power. It is through these fragments that a dialogue begins about how we frame figures of influence like Vaslav. Curator: A valuable provocation from Remnev to reflect upon both historical and contemporary politics of the image!