Neo-primitivism was a Russian
art movementAn art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time, or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined within a number of years...
which took its name from the book Neo-primitivizm (1913), by
Aleksandr ShevchenkoAleksandr Shevchenko was a highly influential Russian avant-garde painter and theorist. In 1913 he wrote the book 'Neo-primiivizm', from which the Russian art movement derives its name....
. In the book Shevchenko proposes a new style of modern painting which fuses elements of Cézanne,
CubismCubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
and
FuturismFuturism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city...
with traditional Russian '
folk artFolk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
' conventions and motifs, notably the russian icon and the
lubokA lubok is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories and popular tales. Lubki prints were used as decoration in houses and inns...
.
Neo-primitivism in the West is also used as a wider term to describe the work of artists/philosophers who aspire to the ideology or aesthetic of
primitivismPrimitivism is a Western art movement that borrows visual forms from non-Western or prehistoric peoples, such as Paul Gauguin's inclusion of Tahitian motifs in paintings and ceramics...
. As a modern art form, neo-primitivism is a radical and influential movement within the realm of
body modificationBody modification is the deliberate altering of the human body for any non-medical reason, such as aesthetics, sexual enhancement, a rite of passage, religious reasons, to display group membership or affiliation, to create body art, shock value, or self expression...
. As a political/social movement, neo-primitivism is commonly associated with the author/philosopher
John ZerzanJohn Zerzan is an American anarchist and primitivist philosopher and author. His works criticize agricultural civilization as inherently oppressive, and advocate drawing upon the ways of life of prehistoric humans as an inspiration for what a free society should look like...
, and is closely linked, often interchangeably, with the
Neo-tribalismNeotribalism or modern tribalism is the ideology that human beings have evolved to live in tribal society, as opposed to mass society, and thus will naturally form social networks constituting new "tribes."-Sociological theory:...
movement.
Neo-primitive artists
Russian artists associated with Neo-primitivism include:
- David Burlyuk
- Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
- Pavel Filonov
Pavel Nikolayevich Filonov was a Russian avant-garde painter, art theorist, and poet.-Biography:Filonov was born in Moscow on January 8, 1883 or December 27, 1882 . In 1897, he moved to St. Petersburg where he took art lessons...
- Natalia Goncharova
Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova was a Russian avant-garde artist , painter, costume designer, writer, illustrator, and set designer. Her great-aunt was Natalia Pushkina, wife of the poet Alexander Pushkin.-Life and work:...
- Mikhail Larionov
Mikhail Fyodorovich Larionov was an avant-garde Russian painter.-Life and work:...
- Kasimir Malevich
- Aleksandr Shevchenko
Aleksandr Shevchenko was a highly influential Russian avant-garde painter and theorist. In 1913 he wrote the book 'Neo-primiivizm', from which the Russian art movement derives its name....
- Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....