2024 № 4 (51)
Julia Zhukova’s Porcelain Art: The Philosophy and Aesthetics of Minimalism
UDC 738.1
LBC 85.03(2)6
DOI: 10.51678/2226-0072-2024-4-222-253
For cit.: Shik I.A. Julia Zhukova’s Porcelain Art: The Philosophy and Aesthetics of Minimalism. Hudozhestvennaya kul’tura [Art & Culture Studies], 2024, no. 4, pp. 222–253. https://doi.org/10.51678/2226‐0072‐2024‐4‐222‐253. (In Russian)
Shik Ida A.
PhD (in Art History), Associate Professor, Russian State University for the Humanities, 6 Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125047, Russia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7953-6283
ResearcherID: JBS-7460-2023
Julia Zhukova’s Porcelain Art: The Philosophy and Aesthetics of Minimalism
Abstract. In the article, the researcher examines the conceptual and artistic features of the contemporary St. Petersburg porcelain artist Julia Zhukova’s works. The author pays special attention to their relation to the experience of the Russian and European avant-garde, as well as to the traditions of modernism in the 20th-century porcelain. The topic is relevant due to the popularity of the aesthetic and philosophical ideas of minimalism, which find expression in Julia Zhukova’s works, in contemporary art and culture. The researcher concludes that the shapes designed by the sculptor are distinguished by ideological richness despite their external simplicity, soft plasticity of sculpting, and texture. As part of the dialogue with the avant-garde, the artist turns to the works of Paul Gauguin, Joan Miró, Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich, Nikolai Suetin, and Nikolai Lapshin, offering an original interpretation of their motives and concepts. In compositions made using silk-screen decals, Julia Zhukova develops the traditions of abstract collages of the early 20th century, experimenting with the interaction of shapes, colours and light. Her abstract landscapes perfectly convey the atmosphere of the season, day or natural phenomenon, expanding the ideas of the ‘Thaw’ porcelain. The author’s floral compositions with their impeccable execution, laconic colour and the emphasis on the beauty of porcelain as a material also correspond to the decorative minimalism aesthetics of the 1950s — 1960s. Julia Zhukova’s still lifes have special meditativeness, a sense of serenity and peace. The artist presents a deeply personal interpretation of Christian themes. In the context of minimalist aesthetics, her non-figurative compositions, where she speaks about the sacred in abstract language, are of particular interest. Julia Zhukova’s art porcelain is distinguished by internal orderliness, laconic expressiveness and philosophical meaningfulness.
Keywords: contemporary designer porcelain, minimalism, abstraction, JSC Imperial Porcelain Factory, Julia Zhukova
Sources:
Pis’mo Yu.L. Zhukovoi: 25.02.2024 [Letter by Yu.L. Zhukova: 25.02.2024]. Lichnyi arkhiv I.A.Shik [I.A. Shik’s Personal Archive].
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Received 19.04.2024
Accepted 18.07.2024
