‘Kononov’s paintings, much like the fleeting moments they capture, seem to linger just out of reach, suspended in a quiet glow. Whether it’s the light filtering through his studio windows or the connection he shares with his subjects, everything he touches seems imbued with warmth and care. And perhaps that’s the magic of his work: in a world filled with rushing, it invites you to pause and find a fragment of your own life embedded within the scenes.’
I. Bilkus, ‘Sergey Kononov doesn’t like to be rushed’, in Plaster Magazine, 20 October 2024
‘At first, we are hooked by the texture of the paintings; their materiality and colors seem neither quite from our time nor quite from the past. We face a temporal and aesthetic enigma. At the frontier between vintage images and genre scenes, this approach to painting gives birth to an ambiguity that is at the same time uncomfortable, endearing... and haunting.’
J. Chaizemartin, ‘Sergey Kononov: Not quite here’, Galerie Lazarew, Press Release, 2023
‘His recent paintings venture into colorful details and new patterns; they feature contemporary and sensual designs tattooed on the bodies. But his palette still includes vibrating shades of ochres, reds, carmines or blue-grays to depict his models – and also close-friends – conveying a strong and moving feeling of intimacy.’
J. Chaizemartin, ‘Introduction’, in Sergey Kononov .1, Paris: Mkf Editions / Galerie Lazarew, 2023, p. 8
‘We lay in between icon and realism, between orthodox spirituality and Balthus, between Masaccio and Egon Schiele. We are caught up in a persistent ambiguity.’
J. Chaizemartin, ‘Sergey Kononov: Not quite here’, Galerie Lazarew, Press Release, 2023
‘[…] during a trip to Florence in Italy, he got imbued with Antiquity and absolutely fascinated by Botticelli's unreal and modern tones. “This painting is 500 years old, but already contains the idea of painting silhouettes like flashes. We don't see any shadows and the detail of the hair, the flesh and the bodies are very refined”. His stay in Florence, where he observed the Italian Primitives, undoubtedly aroused Kononov’s particular attention to the matt finish, specific to tempera or pastel technique. From then on, his painting gradually quieted, within ordinary domestic scenes. The old movies that he likes to watch may have played a part in the artist’s choice to shade the images in golden tones, referring to a quaint old fashioned time that may seem anachronistic. It conveys images of ancient postcards or advertising posters, as well as symbolist paintings that achieved an impression of “lost paradise” haloed by artificial light.’
J. Chaizemartin, ‘Sergey Kononov: Not quite here’, Galerie Lazarew, Press Release, 2023
‘With the artist’s fantastic work on the hair, the flesh or the postures, it is no longer a question of what story brought them there: they live fully the softness of a hug, the warmth of a kiss or the languor of a wait. Assuming their nudity, their bodies radiate lightness without artifice, tenderness without bonds and a delicate power.’
L. De Pontcharra, ‘Body I am entirely’, in Sergey Kononov .1, Paris: Mkf Editions / Galerie Lazarew, 2023, n.p.
‘I absolutely love painting. The more I paint, the more I realize that painting is about bringing colors together in harmony. Recently, I dived into sacred Tibetan painting, which I discovered 8 years ago; I look at it in a completely different way today, I think I understand it better. For me, these works are priceless. The choice of color, their combination, their organic origin… it makes me think a lot about the purity of colors, the use of pigments and the way to reach transparency.’
S. Kononov in conversation with L. de Pontcharra, in ‘Interview’, Sergey Kononov .1, Paris: Mkf Editions / Galerie Lazarew, 2023, p. 141
Unless otherwise stated:
© Sergey Kononov
Courtesy of the artist.
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