Dorota Kozinska
Vie des Arts
I was always fascinated by artists who adopt new mediums in their later careers, and more often than not, those in the creative field, be it actors or musicians, reach for painting.
The actor Anthony Quinn became quite an accomplished painter at the end of his life. He did mostly self-portraits, some with a tilt of the hat to Picasso; they were quite powerful and, not unexpectedly, found many collectors. The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood has been painting like a man possessed for a long while now, showing his loose canvases, based on musicians and the world of music he knows so well, all over London and the UK. Our very own Natasha Turovsky is best known as a violinist, an artistic director of Nouvelle Génération orchestra and part of I Musici. Since, 1990, however, she has been devoting a lot of her time to her childhood passion, painting.
«I became a surrealist at the age of 3. At that time my mom and I had a habit of telling stories to each other. One of mine started like this: Once upon a time there was a cucumber and he married a bear.. I consider my paintings the children of this happy marriage and Klimt, Schiele and Chagall were their godfathers. They were born and raised in a musical environment, as in my free time from painting I am a professional musician.»
Surreal, with a dose of theatricality, Turovsky’s paintings are narrative and playful, and at the moment some fifty of her works are on display at Le Musée Regional de Vaudreuil-Soulanges. It’s a great trip for a great purpose; Turovsky’s works do not disappoint. They are light in colour and spirit, imbued with a childlike joie de vivre, full of symbolism, much drawn from her own childhood and experience, and some from our common lore.
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