Martin Lawrence Galleries

Liudmila Kondakova’s first childhood memories were all bright color: reds, blues, greens, yellows, and whites. She recalls that her first persistent question to the adults around her was “What color is this”? Painting absorbs Kondakova’s whole being. If she is not painting, she is thinking about her current or future projects. Days when she does not work, she considers lost. Liudmila Kondakova painted with egg tempera for many years. It is an unforgiving technique. If you make a mistake, you have to start over. Through this process, she learned planning and discipline, and she uses those skills to create highly detailed paintings of her favorite cities, places, and spaces.  She starts painting from the farthest background area, and she works forward. From the darkest parts of the painting to the lightest, as if she is bringing her composition from darkness to light. Paris is a city that Kondakova has portrayed time and again in her work, and its architecture has inspired many of her works.

In “Café Paris” Liudmila Kondakova’s deep love for Paris and the late 19th century Belle Epoque advertisement is fully evident. Elements of the old Paris architecture are seen in the background wall that shows red brick peaking against a white facade. As all things Paris the Café phenomenon is not lost on the artwork. Everyone at one point in their lives has wanted to just be a wanderer sitting in a Paris Café. The “Belle Epoque’ advertising is featured across the artwork, as a symbol of a rich past, that established a magnificent history that Liudmila Kondakova tries to bring back time and again.  The “A” in Paris has been conveniently and symbolically turned into the Eiffel tower, proving once again that the “Eiffel Tower” in its magnificence glory stands as the symbol of Paris.