“The road to Mandale” of Odessa nobleman or the motive of escapism in the creative work of the artist Oleg Sokolov

Abstract

The article focuses on the creative work of the Odessa’s artist, poet, writer, and scholar Oleg Arakadiyovych Sokolov. The research aims to focus attention on the multi-vector nature of the artist’s work, who, due to the variety of his artistic preferences, was called the “Renaissance person,” to actualize the artistic achievements of the Odessa’s master, to trace the connection with his literary activities and scientific (museum) work. The figure of O. Sokolov in the artistic life of Odessa is positioned as a kind of marker, the quintessence of the intellectual searches of the underground of Odessa. The significance of the figure of O. Sokolov for the museum space of the city, for the anticipation of the free breathing of the artistic field, is highlighted. The encyclopedic awareness of the personality of the master, who built his artistic works on deep knowledge of history, literature, and philosophy, is emphasized. The main manifestations of the author's artistic talent, his individual studies of the realistic manner (mainly in portraiture), his passion for conceptual art, and his mastery of the tools of various artistic manifestations, from academicism to op-art, are briefly described. The artist's contribution to the course of artistic processes that formed the basis for opposing alternative – abstract, non-objective, polyvariant art to official art is emphasized. The master's searches in the field of literature, his poetic gift, the influence of this vector of creativity on the nature of his image-making language, the importance of M. Čiurlionis' personality for the formation of his individual manner are highlighted. The emphasis is placed on the psychological factor that was reflected in the coloring of O. Sokolov's creative path, expressed through conflict with the outside world of official art, its rejection, hence escapism became the “red thread” of creativity. His hidden visualization was devoid of objectivity, which can be perceived as clearly formulated ideas of withdrawal into oneself as a result of the rejection of his work by the official art world. The role of the corpus of compositions “Untitled” as a visualization of contradictions and a way to convey hidden meanings is separately highlighted.