The exhibition "DEITY’S LIKENESS" (6+) opened at the Strelka Warehouse in Nizhny Novgorod. The author of the work, artist and photographer Olga Michi, told NewsNN's correspondent a few secrets about the paintings on display.
According to the author of the works, the exhibition "DEITY’S LIKENESS" is a product of contemporary art, which tells about society, symbols, signs, feelings, aspects of human life. In the paintings one can see how idols of worship have changed.

Even the early expressionists suffered from a lack of understanding of their work. The key to understanding contemporary art is the text. It always tells the author's concept. The Face of the Deity, as Michi tells it, begins with an ancient parable of Aesop, where a fox sneaks into a cave, sees a mask and speaks of its beauty, while calling it fake. This is the point of all masks - to hide something, to instil fear to another or, conversely, to protect yourself.

The starting point for visitors is the masks of Africa and Oceania, followed by Carnival and Venetian masks. The masks also lie in display cases.

The project reaches out to all age groups and social groups. The young people's attention will be drawn to the works dedicated to cinematic universes. There are also iconic images.

The paintings are based on real photos of masks, which are further processed by artificial intelligence on art commands. This is followed by artist-led generation and printing on photographic paper, which is then rolled onto a sheet of aluminium to ensure the work holds its shape. The work is then coated with a special plastic gel. This way a picture can be preserved for 200 years.

The image of the mask evolves from the beginning to the end of the exhibition as it is not just a subject, but also metaphorical.

"What we call the mask is the image that is created in social media. So at the end there is a crooked mirror that is called 'Selfies'. With the advent of social media, idols have emerged who take selfies and gather an army of fans", says Michi.

This is the first time the artist has come to Nizhny Novgorod, invited by Roman Zhukarin, the general director of the NHMR. This new exhibition space in the Warehouse fascinated Michi because she has so much to compare it with - her works have been exhibited not only in Russia but also abroad. Now the artist plans to bring another project to Nizhny Novgorod, in August of 2023.