ARtuyt

“In the temple of cinema, there are images, light, and reality. Sergei Parajanov was the master of that temple.” - Jean-Luc Godard.

Sergei Parajanov is one of the greatest figures of 20th-century world cinema. He once said, “I was not allowed to make movies and I started to make collages. Collage is a compressed film”.
By turns whimsical, provocative and surreal, these pieces reflect Parajanov’s free spirit, his gift for caricature, and his penchant for transforming mundane objects and situations into something magical. They further recall some of his primary artistic influences, which range from Armenian and Persian miniatures (often “quoted” as fragments in his collages), religious icons, folk art, painters from the South Caucasus such as Pirosmani and Hakob Hovnatanyan, and the Italian Renaissance. Of special note is a series of collages that radically transform the Mona Lisa. They also offer a glimpse into his private memories and the people he knew and admired.