The Toilet of Venus is on the short list of Untilted Prize Foundation contest
Mars&Venus, oil, painting, sketch
October 1, 2018
This work is now on the short list of Untilted Prize Foundation contest.
My recent paintings are about the life of Mars and Venus. I compare renaissance heroes, traditional plots of classic oil paintings and up-to-day situations, where Mars is my partner Max, I am the Venus, his wife.
This is the second painting of me in a role of Venus. The model is looking into the mirror, therefore, the work is traditionally called ‘The Toilet of Venus’. Previously the women-artists were not supposed to paint nudity at all, and the Venuses were only on male artist's paintings, were all about beauty and sexuality. The world is changing. I am looking into a mirror and researching my role in art. I am pregnant because it was a taboo in classic oil paintings and because it is not about attractiveness and sexuality, but about the sensitivity of a new woman artist and coming art ideas.
Another name of the work is Annunciation, where the model, like the Virgin Mary, is learning about her pregnancy and holding a book (sketchbook in life) in the hands. In the painted version the glass with water was added as the symbol of pureness (as the vase for a flower in the Renaissance painting).
The painting is also available on Saatchi Art.
70*100 cm, oil on canvas
