Agni-realism — a vision of the Universe through the modern art

Pink elephants ascending along a spiral, a clown in geometric figures, a goddess in the center of the Universe and many other metaphoric symbols — this is what I see, entering an art exhibition that is taking place in one of the most known Parisian art galleries, specializing in Russian modern art, « Galerie Natalie Boldyreff ». Ten talented artists wait for me, inspired and full of emotions, to explain the new tendency that they represent, called Agni-realism.

Evgeny Agnin, the founder and inspirer of this current said: “Agni-realism — is a new name to the old tendencies, surrealism and symbolism. But now, in the XXI century, they became neo-surrealism and neo-symbolism, and, having united, they transformed into one, taking the name of Agni-realism.” He continues that Agni is the god of fire in Hindu mythology, and therefore it is a creative fire that distinguishes an inspired person. This direction takes the opposition to so called actual art (installations that have become so popular nowadays).

I take a closer look at the paintings — labyrinths, spirals, repetitive figures of women… The canvases differ a lot from each other, but they certainly have one common idea — the spiritual symbolism that came from India and Tibet, and also the presence of a woman in the basis of many paintings. This idea comes from Hinduism, where they believe in feminine sources of the Universe. Svetlana Solovtsova, one of the artists-participants of the exhibition, explains: “This world has its roots somewhere else. I believe it is extra-terrestrials who created humanity on Earth. The Universe was born by the Goddess. I have a lot of feminine figures in my paintings — enchantresses, goddesses, fairies. When I think about how this Universe came into existence, they are the key figures that come to my mind.”

As the artists explain, they oppose avant-gardism, and their work is a figurative art filled with a certain meaning. The symbols, nevertheless, are so different in forms and styles that I try to find something common in them. Dmitriy Vasilyev, one of the participants, gives me his vision: “All the works represented here, have one common thing — it is some sort of profound self-understanding and an effort to cognize the world around. The surrealists in their classical meaning are a specific group of people who would do very peculiar things. That is, surrealism can be seen in this narrow sense of the word. I am not sure whether we could consider Agni-realism as an art style; it is rather a direction that has significantly widened in the course of time. It can include diverse genres and styles — for example, a portrait can be painted in the style of Agni-realism. That’s why, in the wide sense, all the artists represented here can be called surrealists.”

What is interesting, despite their disagreements on many points, the artists agree on one thing — it is not they who finish their work, they just give the impulse and let the spectator, their imagination, do the rest and finish the work. Evgeny says: “The task of an artist is to create a formula in which the spectator would put their values. It is not the artist who brings a sense to the work, but the spectator, and the modern spectator sometimes knows a lot more than the artist.”