Irina Leonidovna Korsakova
Born in Moscow in 1960. In 1980, she graduated from the Moscow Art School in memory of 1905.
Works in collections
Her works are in private collections in Denmark, Germany, Yugoslavia, Israel, Mexico, Spain, USA, and France.
Exhibitions and auctions
1988 Group Exhibition of Soviet Artists, Copenhagen; 1989 Solo Exhibition, 'Shloss' Gallery, Regensburg, Germany; 1994 'Children's Games by Irina Korsakova', Solo Exhibition, St. Basmannaya Street, Moscow.
Critic
Large canvases. A dark, deep background. Children. Toys. Carefully painted curls, lace, bows... The conventional 'very nice' suddenly sticks to the tongue. These paintings are unsettling. Old-fashioned costumes, compositions borrowed from 17th and 18th-century masters, and in one work—matches. 'Yes, an anachronism,' Irina nods. 'By the way, not the only one. Look at the dresses, hairstyles—they don't belong to any specific era. It's a stylization. I strive to wrench these "children" out of any cultural context. They are, first of all, symbols. They are out of time.' A boy with blindfolded eyes, cutting a prize hanging on a string with big 'great-grandfather's' scissors. And a sense of vulnerability. Where does it come from? After all, this is an old New Year's game many of us played. And again, a game—this time 'playing dolls.' A girl with an adult hairstyle. A dress with lace. Two dolls lifelessly limp in children's fists. Childish cruelty? And who here is the child and who are the toys? The children in I. Korsakova’s paintings are impossible to sentimentalize. Looking at these children, you rather recall Christ's phrase: 'Be as children.' Children are closer to life than adults. And therefore, closer to death. And—to the knowledge of life and death. D. Charskaya
Bibliography
"Weniger Schulensanger,” Die Woche, September 7, 1989, Germany; "Die Wahrheit ist konkret,” Die Woche, September 28, 1989, Germany; "Der Kunstler, der Ast eines Baumes,” Mittelbauerische Zeitung, September 22, 1989, Germany; "The first steps of the 'Neo-Step' Gallery,” Whats where in Moscow, 1992, USA, p. 11; A. Charskaya, 'Games as Warnings', Kultura, April 30, 1993, Moscow, p. 8; 'STANBET' Gallery booklet, 1992, Moscow.
Works 10
