YURI GRACHEV: IN HIS OWN WORDS

I received the strongest jolt in New York. From an artist's point of view, New York is a unique city. It is a city of contrasts. The most interesting thing for an artist is the abundance of colorful categories of people. The city brings together people of all nationalities and races. New York's beauty is often found in its outrageous character and broad gamut of faces.
The same holds true for people. There are a lot of homeless, sick street people, vagrants and beggars. That would make a strong impression on anyone. The homeless and beggars here are utter physical and mental wrecks. I have not seen people like that anywhere.
Their clothes are generally filthy and many are physically devastated (there are also mentally ill people and cripples). Many wear filthy black trousers with one leg shorter than the other and ripped from top to bottom. Some who are garbed in burlap rags look like majestic Biblical characters; that is abetted by their disheveled hair and beards covering their faces. There's no Rembrandt or Van Gogh to be seen here.



Previous      Next