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Guest of THE SECRETS OF PERFECTION talented painter from Novosibirsk Irina Demidova can be ascribed to anti rationalist cluster existentialism -- a movement, literary and artistic as well as philosophical (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Gabriel Marcel, Ortega Y Gasset). The central existentialist problem is a problem of personality, its relation with world and god -- main its idea is that existence precedes essence. According to Karl Jaspers, only tragedy can be named as great art, and tragic mood is supreme in existential art. Existential directions appear in periods of economic, political crisis, in war time. Existentialism is philosophy of crisis and calamities. Representatives of the philosophical direction have two ways out of this situation: one part of them choose lead to limit of hopelessness; others try to force theirs way by transcendent mean (Helena Blavatsky, Alice Bailey). Artist Irina Demidova chooses spiritual or esoteric path, the path of spiritual development.  Universal Mind, Divine Will, Absolute Reality, the Unknown, the Divine Being, the Nature of Truth, Act of Will, cyclic reappearance or rebirth, the law of Karma, immanent and transcendent of creation, Logos, Macrocosm and Microcosm, the purpose of life, Spiritual Soul, Personality and Soul are the theosophical philosophy categories which take possession of contemporary existential thinker's mind. Soul contact is gained through spiritual meditation which can have many forms.

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Fragility of our temporary life and tragic presentiment (End of Way; What is Our Life, Tears), idea of rebirth (Self Portrait), mystery of penetrating into profound levels of being (The Sorceress), contemporary woman's spiritual perception of herself (Liuba, Self Portrait, Indifference) there are the problems disturbing the author. Like other existentialists Irina Demidova more concentrates on feeling than on structure -- composition of her pictures is quite intuitive. However, the artist is a good drawer, she shows strong fine art school, skill and talent. Her images are poetic, dreamy, pensive, have clearly romantic inclination. If in Soviet Union artistic ideal was human strength, human energy, both physical and  spiritual, today's artist seeks after subtlety, soul trembling, mystery and miraculous, that is, after more perfect spiritual perception.

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Magic realism of Irina Demidova is a nice example of successful synthesis of the spiritual and the corporeal, what is such urgent and important contemporary artist problem.

..Jurate Macnoriute

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