Title of the Exhibition:

Drawings:

The Land of Heavenly Monsters

Date of Creation:
2002-2024
Genre:
Still life, Animalism, Figurative
Period Movement:
Contemporary Art, Realism, Neo Cubism
Technique:
Drawing
Materials:
Original digital artworks, original drawings on paper
Dimensions:
Variable


Exhibition Description:
This exhibition explores the most ancient form of visual lexicon - drawing- and the evolution of such Art in Chiao's practice. The artist has shifted from naturalistic realism to minimalist and powerful neo-cubist works and a symbolist approach, from drawings filled with miniature details and tiny compositional elements to Art made with just a few elegant lines. The artworks presented are full of rich and varied imagery and respond to complex contemporary themes of war, conflict, poverty, status, and wealth. Beautiful, provocative, and powerful; real and imaginary personages - heroes, people, animals, and monsters populating planet Earth and fantastic legendary worlds in these drawings. This section of Art consists of nearly one hundred drawings and is significant and memorable for the artist. Years ago, in 2000, Nicholaas Chiao surprised his old classmates with upgraded academic drawing skills upon the entry exams to the State Academy of Arts in Minsk, Belarus. The situation was that Nicholaas previously resisted wearing the optical glasses, hoping to naturally restore the sharpness of vision lost by intensive drawing exercises in school. Still, before the exams, he decided to wear optical glasses, significantly increasing his eyesight and realistic drawing abilities. Moreover, he attended an additional drawing course by a brilliant expert teacher, who unspeakably raised Chiao's level in drawing, which permitted him to pass the entry exams.