Ivan Mikhailovich Yamberdov, a master of themed paintings, an Honored Artist of Russia and an Honored Artist of the Mari El Republic, was born in the village of Chodrayal. In his works, he conveys a true love for his native land, the Mari people, their customs and culture. The sincerity and strength of this feeling make Yamberdov’s paintings world-famous: from 1986 to 2004, ten personal exhibitions of the artist took place in Russia and abroad, and his works are kept in museums and private collections of Mari El, Russia, Finland, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, and Italy.
Ivan Yamberdov’s canvases fascinate with their magical beauty, make one think and look for hidden meanings in the depicted objects. The artist once said, “Painting for me is thinking in colors. To capture a moment of life, to understand and depict it means to understand the moment of transformation, because life changes every second. Life is fleeting, so it is important to develop a feeling of not only your own history, but also the history of your family.”
Through his works, Ivan Mikhailovich reveals the identity of the Mari people. His characters — strong in spirit, thoughtful, and a little anxious — are manifested sometimes in human form, and other times in the images of nature. In Yamberdov’s paintings, a magical metamorphosis of characters takes place.
The composition of the painting “My Vertical” is constructed from the bottom to the top with a pronounced center and includes elements of Mari pagan symbols. Ivan Yamberdov is an artist-thinker, an artist-poet, there are few artists who have mastered this slightly magical shade of blue. The unique originality of his paintings testifies to his profoundly deliberate vision of the world. Flashes of white — like a moment of awareness, a lightning of epiphany — pop against the background of this juicy, undiluted color scheme. Through the prism of the past, through the archetypes of consciousness, the artist brings us to an understanding of inseparable commonalities which connect us with all the generations that lived before us and with those that will live after. The viewer finds all these elements in the painting “My Vertical”, in which Yamberdov has collected all the symbols important for the artist’s family and every human being.
Ivan Yamberdov’s canvases fascinate with their magical beauty, make one think and look for hidden meanings in the depicted objects. The artist once said, “Painting for me is thinking in colors. To capture a moment of life, to understand and depict it means to understand the moment of transformation, because life changes every second. Life is fleeting, so it is important to develop a feeling of not only your own history, but also the history of your family.”
Through his works, Ivan Mikhailovich reveals the identity of the Mari people. His characters — strong in spirit, thoughtful, and a little anxious — are manifested sometimes in human form, and other times in the images of nature. In Yamberdov’s paintings, a magical metamorphosis of characters takes place.
The composition of the painting “My Vertical” is constructed from the bottom to the top with a pronounced center and includes elements of Mari pagan symbols. Ivan Yamberdov is an artist-thinker, an artist-poet, there are few artists who have mastered this slightly magical shade of blue. The unique originality of his paintings testifies to his profoundly deliberate vision of the world. Flashes of white — like a moment of awareness, a lightning of epiphany — pop against the background of this juicy, undiluted color scheme. Through the prism of the past, through the archetypes of consciousness, the artist brings us to an understanding of inseparable commonalities which connect us with all the generations that lived before us and with those that will live after. The viewer finds all these elements in the painting “My Vertical”, in which Yamberdov has collected all the symbols important for the artist’s family and every human being.
