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Solo exhibition of Russian artist Juliya Zhukova - "Vital Painting". Author of the text Sergey Gavrilyachenko.
At endless diversity of talents, they still can be classified to help the audience (i.e. critic) to understand somehow (OK, not in very precise way) the art features of any painter of a great interest. Some are creators, tireless travelers around the world, looking for new views and feelings; others are “one place” autists enjoying “a hundred views of mount Fuji” or their own room-chamber microcosm; some worship color-mixing and fall in rampage tactile, improvisatory mixing them; some are sad pessimists, others have indomitable vitality… Along with few extremes there are endless number of medium mixed variations responsible for the diversity of talents. Using these dual markers, you can determine the artist in his extraordinary characteristics especially in cases of personal envy over lack of some talent.

Julia Zhukova is a traveler, no doubts. She feels languidly and suffers in one place. Having mastered Moscow suburbs and Golden Ring, Julia rapidly moves from North to South, roams close and far abroad, easy and cheerful converging with participants of many groups of diverse plein-airs. Again, from the tedious jealousy, want to take away passports from Julia and similar travelers and not to allow them to go further south of Kolomna-Ryazan. Will be better to send them to deserted Russian North, because we shouldn’t spend their talents on Indo-overseas temptations.
Julia Zhukova loves spontaneous, energetic, impetuous painting, like a dashing cavalry attack on nature. She is a kind of Sturmer, a follower of “storm and attack”. Tempest and chaos fit her, correspond to her psychophysics. As for a singer the biggest desire is to find the right voice approach, so for a painter the unity of the physical temperament and his professional fulfillment becomes very important.

Julia Zhukova graduated from in Pedagogical Institute. It’s graduate sarecalled “Khudgraphs” and belong to a specific type of Moscow painters. For instance, “Stroganophs” (graduated from Moscow State Art-Industrial Academy named after S. G. Stroganov) are supposed to be businesslike, pragmatic; “Surikophs” (graduated from Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov) are content and phlegmatic, getting a certified fortune together with the diploma. Meanwhile “Khudgraphs” are very anxious, trying to prove their superiority over half-asleep marmots (Russian play-on-words: marmots are “surok” sounds like “Surikophs”), at the same time not encroaching on money of “stroganophs”. If we look at the members of Moscow Artists Unity today, we can see that “Khudgraphs” more than others dream about glory and more than others warm in its shine.

All described above is obviously demonstrated in personal exhibition of Julia Zhukova, showing fidelity to almost dead etude tradition. Chasing the truth of the momentum from seeming chaotic kaleidoscope of elusive details, Zhukova creates the integrity of her art life, where one can unexpectedly see complex logical composition, format feeling, ability to notice the details that one hasn’t seen before (rusting cars, ramshackle houses habitually snoozing in province; the train, approaching from the depths of the eternal forest and of her special details that make usual etude classic vital…). Everyone, who fell into alarmism and pessimism, should see the art of Julia Zhukova and get vaccinated from melancholy, lack of will and at the same time from stupid-glamorous positivity. Her art is like healthy fruits from a homemade garden, fruits that one can rarely meet in the supermarkets of contemporary art.

Author of the text Sergey Gavrilyachenko - The People's Artist of the Russian Federation, a professor of the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov, the Secretary of Board of the Artists Union of Russia.