Mikhail Dmitrov’s Renaissance

The beginning of Mikhail Dmitrov’s creative path was in the 1970’s of the last century. In the USSR, it was a difficult, sleepy, hypocritical time: the system choked all life, remaining indifferent to the personality of the artist.

Prolonged Debut

It happened that all my first projects were approved by high commissions; they won contests, but under there was no funding for them.

The officials, who gave permission for the installation of sculptural objects, endorsed the work of Dmitrov’s verdict ‘Does not meet the method of socialist realism,’ and therefore has no right to exist.

The graduate work at the Lvov Art School “Entry sign to the City of Gorodok”, was banned for installation, as it was associated with a trident. The sketch of the fountain “Desna flows into the Dnepr” was not approved because they saw forbidden sensuality in it. His graduate project, the monument to Vasily Stefanyk, which managed to be realized, Mikhail Dmitrov put at his own expense.

Mikhail Dmitrov. Monument to Vasily Stefanik. 1979

 

‘I Wrapped a Child in a Chestnut Leaf’

After graduation, Dmitrov was not allowed to stay in the capital, and for a long time, he could not find a job in his specialty at all. But even in hard times of material difficulties and the absence of state orders, the artist continued to create.

In 1982, Mikhail Dmitrov won the competition to create a commemorative medal “Born in the City-Hero Kiev”. At the heart of the composition, there is a brilliant and at the same time very simple idea.

I wrapped a child in a chestnut leaf and won the contest. This brought a little inspiration and gave material support (the medal was replicated for ten years, and in the capital’s registry offices it was given to all newborns in Kiev).

By the way, during the work on the project, the youngest daughter three-months-old Oksana “posed” for the artist.

Mikhail Dmitrov. Sketch of the medal "Born in the hero-city of Kiev". 1980

“This is My Pain”

Long before Ukraine gained independence, Mikhail Dmitrov turned to the topic of the UIA and people’s deportation from the border areas. Subsequently, he repeatedly returned to these and other tragic pages of the history of Ukraine.

In 1984, the sculpture created “Pieta (Operation Vistula)”. In the1990’s, the “Wounded Angel”, “Victims of the Holodomor”, and “Motovilov Combat” were added to it.

Mikhail Dmitrov. "Pieta (Operation" Vistula ")". 1980.

These are all autobiographical things. My eternal pain.

Among other works of the artist, which marked the 1980’s, it is necessary to highlight the reliefs “Vasily Stefanyk”, “Ivan Franko”, the medal “Kirill Stetsenko”, the project of the monument “Solomia Krushelnytskaya”. The important part of these works, first of all, is the reflection of the polyphonic, contradictory inner world of the heroes. The external resemblance is perceived by the sculptor rather as an indispensable condition of the game, the installation of a realistic style. The amazing similarity is accompanied by the sensuality. The portrait of a friend, the poet Vasily Gerasimyuk, due to the elegance of carving can be compared with the works of masters of antiquity.

Mikhail Dmitrov. Portrait of a friend - the poet Vasily Gerasimyuka. 1980

In the 1990’s, the sculptor, keen on the idea of the emergence of independent Ukraine’s culture, created the reliefs “Olga and Vladimir”, “Ivan Franko and Vasily Zagayevich”, the medal “Mikhail Boychuk”, the project of the monument “Taras Shevchenko”.

The Austrian Period

In 2000, Mikhail Dmitrov accepted the invitation of the St. Margaret Academy and came to Austria. Here, in cooperation with local masters, he works on the restoration of ancient Austrian sculpture, and the revival of folk traditions. Improvisator and analyst, he boldly and confidently experiments with form, styles and techniques, perfects his skills. Studying the European experience, he puts it through the prism of his own authorial experience both aesthetic and spiritual, creating a new quality and making his own discoveries.

The works of this period have mostly predominantly religious and philosophical sense (“Saint Florian”, “Khritofor Holiday”, “Mary Magdalene”, “Mother of God”, etc.). They are associated with the appeal to the Christian tradition, the Bible, are based on the main Christian-worldview categories: faith, happiness, and love.

The sculpture “Father Pio” was installed in the Austrian town of Ollendorf in 2003. The statue depicts an Italian monk from the Capuchin order Padre Pio of Pietrelcin, canonized in 2002. It organically combines the sacred content and realistic image of the monk. His figure remains calm, noble and at the same time possesses a magical power: with a confident, blessing gesture the saint gives hope and healing to everyone who asks for help.

But being multifaceted, the sculptor is not limited only to religious topics. In Austria, Dmitrov arranges solo exhibitions, he works to order. At the request of the organizers of the international music contest dedicated to the memory of Frank Sinatra, Dmitrov creates the main prize, a medal to the winner. The round stone reward of a meter diameter amazed by the skill it was made with, the sense of form, the imagery of thinking, and elegant humor.

More than 600 sculptural compositions of the Ukrainian artist, created during this period, enriched private collections and decorated the interiors of Austria, Germany, and America.

Architecture and Design

In 2006, Mikhail Dmitrov returned to Ukraine and plunged into a new hobby, architecture and landscape design. The experience gained during his studies in Austria was successfully implemented by him, creating estates projects. Dmitrov’s design works are marked by a harmonious combination of natural and artificial forms, man-made structures and ornamental plant groups. Each manor has its own expressive silhouette, flavor, which makes it differ from the others.

Carrying out an order for the decoration of restaurants, cafes Dmitrov demonstrates another facet of his talent: he is a brilliant decorator. In his interiors, one can read both a sense of material (whether it is wood, ceramics, bronze, marble, wax, glass, mirror or even water) and love of the texture game. Polychrome and harmony of contrasts, original composition, dynamics and perfection of forms, present in all of his design decisions, give the rooms a special atmosphere. But the main distinguishing feature of Dmitrov’s projects lies in the fact that they retain a single style: European, but deeply national, having folk roots and developing the Ukrainian artistic tradition.

I used to work with Japanese, French, and Austrian designers and architects; I saw different styles and directions, but I always return to our archaic Ukrainian mud hut. Clay, wood, stone are a healthy environment in which you can bring up strong and intelligent children.

Dmitrov’s characteristic feature is especially expressive in the projects of historical and architectural ensembles’ restoration: the estate of the Khanenko* family in the village of Olenevka, the settlement “Melnitsa” on the Fastovschina, the ancient settlement and the castle in Makarov.

For the project of the chapel in the settlement “Melnitsa”, the sculptor was awarded the diploma of the Patriarch of Kyiv Philaret. In the silhouettes of the stone structure’s dome, the helmets of ancient Slav warriors facing the four directions of the world are traced. The bright dome of the rotunda looks especially impressive against the blue sky, a kind of symbol of purity, spirituality, and faith. Here everything resembles an earthly paradise, gives the heart a special peace. The theme of the divine as the supreme law of truth and grace unites all the works of the author, being the embodiment of his cultural ideals.

Developing Traditions, Reflecting Times

The creativity of Mikhail Dmitrov is a modern Ukrainian Renaissance, the preservation, and continuation of those important features of cultural heritage that will pass from ancestors to descendants, after all, according to the sculptor’s deep conviction, the revival of the state occurs through the revival of culture.

Mikhail Dmitrov. "From the creation of the world." 2010

Dmitrov, of course, is the bearer of realistic traditions in art. At the same time, his works are symbolic and modern: it is an art with which you can contact, communicate, realizing that it is a reflection of the time in which you live today. Through symbols and images, the sculptor shares his view of the past and the present with his viewer, his view of art is like a vision of a path to intellectual and emotional improvement of a person. One of the creative plans of the artist is to create the Ukrainian Stonehenge, a kind of altar of national history: Baturin, Kruty, UIA, Babiy Yar, Heavenly Hundred.