Contemporary Russian Religious Art in the German Museum: Alexander Markin's project I. N. R. I.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the art project “Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews” / I. N. R. I. as an example of modern religious art. The project was exhibited at the Pilgrimage Museum in Germany in 2020 and presents an environment, where sculpture, painting, graphics and stained glass windows dedicated to the events of the Gospel history with an emphasis on the Passion of Christ are combined in the space of several halls. The author turned to the traditions of modernist art, including the church art, combining them with the traditions of icon painting, Russian avant-garde and design approach. His task was to speak on the gospel themes in the modern language of a clear visual sign. The article examines the origin of the idea and the course of work on the project, its artistic parts and the specifics of the interpretations.