The Russian Museum

The State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg) jointly with Proactive PR company presents the major "Pavel Filonov. Witness of the Unseen" exhibition timed to the G8 summit. It is the first since 1988 and the largest personal exhibition of one of the "Titans" of Russian avant-garde. Pavel Filonov dedicated his life to the creation of his own original painterly method. He's recognized and acknowledged by art historians but his oeuvre isn't widely known among the public - that's the result of strict Soviet censorship. The main aim of the exhibition project is to fill in this gap, to present the art of the great Russian painter to Russian and foreign visitors and demonstrate his contribution to the world artistic culture stressing the originality of spiritual and aesthetic quests reflected in the canvases and drawings of Filonov. The exhibition comprises 160 works by Filonov with 65 canvases and 75 works of graphic art among them. The chosen works span all the periods of creative activity of the master. The evolution of his views and specific character of artistic thinking are presented not only chronologically but also thematically. The original method of the artist embodied in the works which are not easy to comprehend is revealed in the most astonishing way - the curators were bold enough to fully transform the exposition space for Filonov's works. The original architectural method is used with good effect for the exhibition concept. The darkened suite of rooms of the Benois Wing with point light will help to focus the eyes of visitors on the works of the artist and his painterly style thus demonstrating his genius. At the exhibition of Filonov the unique electronic instrument known as the ANS (Alexander Nikolayevich Skryabin) synthesizer will be introduced to the public. It was conceived in 1938 by the engineer Yevgeny Alexandrovich Murzin and named after his favorite composer. The functioning model of ANS was produced only in 1958 and today we present its third version which is the only instrument of the kind in the world. Graphic image coming through the special mechanism of ANS the principle of operation of which resembles the present-day scanner turns into its sound analogue. So the visitor will get the unique opportunity to hear the paintings of Filonov. It was supported by Pro-AKTIV PR Company.