Friday Goodie Bag: three contemporary iconographers
Also clips and pics, a preview, from our trip to Subiaco & Orvieto
As we know, these short, easy-going Friday posts will be divided into paid and unpaid, with the “above the fold” section - that is, above the paywall - for free subscribers including some announcements to hint at things to come. Something for everyone.
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Three contemporary iconographic artists
George Kordis - Athens based iconographer George Kordis may perhaps be considered as one of the most important representatives of the post-Soviet revival of iconography. He “does not see working within Tradition as merely the repetition of old models, but rather as the application of immutable principles in solving contemporary pictorial problems. His unique style, at times considered ‘too modern’ or innovative, challenges our expectations of the possible. This interview will serve to help us understand his methodology as the iconographer himself understands it.”
Kordis is the author of runs iconography workshops both in person in Greece and online. His work runs a gamut from traditional wall paintings on churches to allegorical renditions of poetry in “digital” media. To me his work is inspirational, with seemingly wild colours and swirling lines creating a coherent whole but always otherworldly picture, a divine reality always in motion. He seems like a holy madman.
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Anthony Gunin - A Russian Orthodox priest and iconographer based now in Boston. From his biography: “Never having a teacher and not belonging to any local iconography school, after painting the holy icons over 20 years, Fr. Anthony developed the style, referring to the aesthetics of the so-called paleological revival artists. His transparent technique of icon painting, sometimes reaching watercolour luminosity, seems to be very suitable to convey the revealed truths of the Holy Church on the divine light permeating the saints.”
What strikes me most about his work is the appearance of the figures glowing with an inner light.
He achieves it using layers of thin translucent colours, gentle hues and low value contrasts (no sharp dark-light transitions, no deep shadows) with extremely finely developed linear drawings. A unique effect. Unmistakable.
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Ivanka Demchuk - A Ukrainian Catholic iconographer. I especially love her use of minimalism, and organic, almost chaotic backgrounds and landscapes, with sharply contrasted clean, sharp lines of her figures, and very intelligent and sparing, and therefore evocative, use of brilliant colour.
She sells her work on Etsy, here. Her main website is here.
Good stuff in the works
Lots of fun things are on the way, the main being two more on-site posts from my recent trip around about, to see the incredible frescos of the monastery of Sacro Speco at Subiaco…
…and the magnificent Gothic cathedral of Orvieto. (Scroll down past the paywall to see some pics.)
We’ll also take another look at the ways the art of ancient Egypt, and its later Greco-Roman influencers had an impact on Byzantine and therefore all later Christian art.
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Sacro Speco?
What’s a “sacro speco”? SO glad you asked! It translates literally to “holy cave”.
The Benedictine monastery of the Sacro Speco at Subiaco, about an hour and a half drive inland from Rome, is the place where St. Benedict came to live an eremitical life, praying alone in the manner of the ancient Desert Fathers.
I was able to visit it in February and did quite a bit of clandestine video-taking. I’m getting a big post ready all about it. Some pics and little bits of video, that I haven’t yet edited together, are previewed below the fold for paid members.
A holy cave or cleft is a common feature of the lives of Umbrian saints and mystics. One of them where St. Francis liked to come to rest and pray is very close by Narni. It’s called the Sacro Speco di San Francesco, because it was one of the Umbrian saint’s favourite places. There is still a Franciscan monastery there today that you can visit.
I went to visit the Sacro Speco of St. Francis with some friends last year, and as we arrived saw a big weather front rolling darkly toward us down the Valternana. We took shelter to wait it out in the cleft of the rock where St. Francis liked to pray. I was standing in it when I took this video. The little church down the steps is where Francis’ cell is preserved, where he had a visit from an angel while he was recovering from an illness.
Later the rain cleared and we had a little picnic lunch at the back of the church where there’s a little stone bench built in.
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More fun random stuff beneath the big green door! Like a preview of our trip to Subiaco, with some never-before-seen video clips and photos!
