Artist Nikolai Makarov
Year: 2016
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 67H x 47W in
Original Artwork Price: $50,000
Makarov delicately converges his painted surfaces producing foggy, mysterious and restful qualities that immerse viewers in stillness, creating space for contemplation in the silence he creates.
While Makarov initially preferred oil paints over acrylics, he decided to base his works on the latter following encouragement from the Austrian painter Rudolf Hauser. Diluted with water, these enabled him to build up layers of subtle washes that converge into a smooth surface of paint, making his paintings moving and unmistakable.
The silence space he creates invites inner reflection and inner dialogue. Thoughts such as those concerning the meaning of life or an acceptance of self are allowed to take their courses. The artist believes that silence provides one with the possibility of freeing oneself from the bondage of anxieties, emotional chaos, fear, and self-doubt. Nikolai Makarov is the founder of the Museum of Silence, located at the edge of the bustling heart of Berlin. There, he places his own works in relation to its interior architecture. As you walk amongst his works, it makes it seem as if time really does come to a stop.
