Since the opening of our gallery a few months ago, a number of thematic narratives have emerged from the works we have chosen to exhibit. In this article we will deal with the first, and we have selected this one for a very specific reason. The theme is jazz.
If you are a jazz fan, you are probably aware that every year since 1973 Perugia. has hosted the Umbria Jazz festival.
This event is a must for all artists devoted to music and culture in general. It was our intention, and our plan, to organize an event within the event. A sort of link between figurative art and jazz, precisely on the occasion of this internationally renowned festival. We had organized in the greatest detail this first thematic exhibition of Artnuances Gallery. However, this year Umbria Jazz will be canceled. COVID19, unfortunately, has delayed our project for the time being. And yet as ours is a virtual gallery we are not prevented from continuing to disseminate the works of our artists.
This is just an “Arrivederci” – until we meet again… Umbria Jazz returns in 2021 from july 9-18.
Our artist, Roman Nogin
There is an artist in Artnuances Gallery who has dedicated a entire series of works to jazz music. We’re talking about Roman Nogin. You can continue to see all his works online in our Artnuances Gallery. Roman’s passion for jazz music inspired him to paint a series of works dedicated to the most famous jazz artists and the atmosphere that surrounds the listener when the music begins to sound. Roman Nogin is a young painter who has participated in more than 100 exhibitions in the USA, Holland, Germany, Great Britain, and Taiwan.
Roman’s words
From his Facebook page,here’s how he describes his series of paintings:
“Jazz People Series follows the chords and syncopations of jazz and old blues music. The main concept of these paintings is to express jazz music through color, plastic lines and forms, stylization and transformation of images of famous musicians, creators of the magic of jazz improvisation. Yes, these are not perfect, sometimes tired and sad faces and hands of great creators, dissolving in cigarette smoke and the sounds of music, to which they gave their lives and thoughts and soul, and became music, dissolving in it. In portraits of musicians I transform faces, hands and musical instruments in a single plastic language, uniting and figuratively highlighting what gives rise to music, which becomes an independent rhythmic essence of the whole image.”
Jazz and painting
“In our age many arts learn from each other and they often have the same aims,” Kandinsky wrote in his manifesto Concerning the Spiritual in Art. So, it’s no wonder that arts as seemingly different arts music and painting actually have so much in common. One could say that these two arts employ different tools and methods, but the end result can also be the same: conveying an emotion, a passion, a feeling to the viewer.
Many figurative artists, even famous ones, have never hidden their passion for jazz.
In an article in Jazz Letter, we discover, for example, that Picasso, Basquiat and Pollock were lovers of this genre of music and that they drew inspiration from it for their most famous works. Pollock’s works, what is more, were even used as covers for jazz records: Ornette Coleman’s 1960 album ‘Free Jazz’ featured one of his paintings on the cover.
A small musical gift
There’s nothing left, then, but to wish you an enjoyable visit to our gallery. Perhaps accompanied by the background sound of the artists depicted by our Roman. And here you have, to conclude, a small gift that, we are sure, will be a moment of pleasant relaxation for you. The musical playlists of some of the artists immortalized by Roman Nogin in his works.
Ray Charles
John Coltrane
Billie Holliday
Dizzy Gillespie
Visit HERE the page dedicated to Roman while listening to the music.
To conclude, we look forward to meeting you at the next article and we are always eager to welcome you in our gallery.
