Neo-pagan ideologies in the fine arts of modern Russia

The article is aimed to highlight the types of religious ideologies that exist in two forms of Russian neo-paganism (Slavic and Finno-Ugric), and to consider the reflection of these types in the fine arts of contemporary artists. The author relies on the socioconstructivist approach in understanding religion, uses comparative, typological and semiotic methods for studying ideological and artistic practices. Relying on existing research, the author presented an overview of the common features and trends of Slavic Rodnoverie and Finno-Ugric neo-paganism as forms of modern secular religiosity. An original typology of religious ideologies is proposed: religion is a function oriented towards the political and practical transformation of empirical reality; religion-gnosis, focused on the comprehension of meta-empirical reality; religion-symbol (or religion-culture), focused on the totality of religious symbols as an expression of ethno-cultural identity. In nationalist Rodnoverie, the position of religion-function dominates, in religious Rodnoverie - religion-gnosis, in Meryan ethnofuturism - religion-symbol. An analysis of the embodiment of neo-pagan themes and imagery in the works of fine art by Russian artists showed the existence of stable correspondence between the type of religious ideology and the formal and stylistic characteristics of paintings and drawings. The ideology of religion-function is reflected in the works of B. Olshansky, A. Shishkin, A. Klimenko, V. Korolkov, M. Kuleshov, I. Ozhiganov, V. Dzalba, A. Sinyakin, A. Timofeev and others. This group is characterized by figurativeness, anthropomorphism, appeal to the stylistic traditions of neoclassicism, national romanticism (modern), fantasy art. The ideology of religion-gnosis is reflected in the work of V. Vyatich, M. Sukharev; they are characterized by a rejection of figurativeness, ornamentality, an appeal to (pseudo)archaic and avant-garde, and experimentalism. The ideology of religion-symbol is characteristic of the artists of Finno-Ugric ethnofuturism (P. Mikushin, G. Fomiryakov, I. Fedosova, A. Malyshev and others), who combine figurativeness and abstract symbolism. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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