The Bluebeard series was an attempt to retell the famous French folk tale in paintings. Experiencing a difficult period in her personal life, Ms. Marina Fedorova turns to the classical literary plot, but treats it more like an emotional impulse for creating a non-linear pictorial story.
The project is based on the images from life in the present-day Moscow coupled with cinematic references. The red room from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks whose special mystical atmosphere is in sync with the general mood of these artworks, becomes the recurring motif of the entire series. In Cinema Room, the saturated red colour of velvet curtains, walls and armchairs seems stiffening and overwhelming. The composition based on the rhythmic repetition of shapes and lines reinforces the feeling of suspense and menace. Almost the entire space of Start Watching is taken up by a red drapery. One can easily distinguish a man and a woman hiding behind it, while the black and white chequered floor directly refers to the Lynchian Black Lodge.
The central work in the series is the Room triptych where the same sinister red tones are set against a huge snow-white double bed stained with blood. The male image is depersonalised: none of the works show us the Bluebeard’s eyes. Throughout the series, the male character remains coldly alienated. This is evidenced by the choice of a cooler palette (Good Morning, Dear), and, quite literally, by incorporating winter motifs (Bluebeard). Women appear in different manifestations: either in a state of unbridled merriment, which can be read as the last feast (Black Caviar), or as a young bride who has just lost her innocence (Morning).
It all culminates in the Artist’s reinvention of the famous Twin Peaks scene telling about the death of Laura Palmer (Laura). The painting medium gives monumentality to cinematographic angles and frames, while the new level of control over the overall colour scheme allows Ms. Marina Fedorova to create a mystical series which can be interpreted as a painted thriller.
Anastasia Karlova, Ph.D.
Curator of the Department of Contemporary Art, State Russian Museum,
St. Petersburg
