Tatyana Apraksina ( rus, Татья́на Апра́ксина, p=tɐˈtʲjanə ɐˈpraksʲɪnə, a=Tatyana Apraksina.ru.vorb.oga) is an artist and writer who also produces the magazine ''Apraksin Blues''.
Career
Apraksina settled in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in 1963 and started to live on Apraksin Lane (''Apraksin pereulok'') in 1972. The music-inflected unofficial culture of the time began to intersect actively with her life. Moscow: Agraf, Kraft+, 2003. . St. Petersburg: Contrast, St. Petersburg State University, 2015. 600 p. + 3 CDs. Tel Aviv, Israel. Nov. 29, 2012
In 1974, "Apraksina" became her creative pseudonym. Her salon on Apraksin Lane hosted the original members of Akvarium, as well as nascent songwriter
Mike Naumenko
Mikhail Vasilyevich Naumenko, better known as Mike Naumenko (russian: link=no, Майк Науменко, 18 April 1955 – 27 August 1991) who by the early 1980s as the founder of
Zoopark
Zoopark (russian: link=no, Зоопарк) was one of the founding rock groups which began the Russian rock movement. The group was founded in 1981.Russian rock
Rock music became known in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its Western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s (especially the era of perestroika), when the Soviet underground roc ...
and blues music. The St. Petersburg Times. April 18, 2012Urban, Michael, with Andrei Evdokimov. ''Russia Gets the Blues: Music, Culture, and Community in Unsettled Times.'' Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2004. P. 32, 90, 93. In one of his late interviews, Mike revealed that "all issongs are dedicated to her."
Primarily self-taught, St. Petersburg. No.4 (159), February 20, 1998. Philadelphia, Penn. March 5–18, 2003, No. 5 (88). Baku, Azerbaijan. No. 129, July 12, 2003. P. 33. Apraksina managed to establish herself as a graphic artist, employed by factories, stores and movie theaters. Themes of early exhibits of her independent creative work included the courtyards of old Leningrad, Moscow: VAAP-Inform, January–March 1988, p. 72-73. particularly nearby
Apraksin Dvor
Apraksin Yard (also Apraxin Dvor; russian: Апраксин Двор) is a market and retail block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, currently under a massive long-term renovation project. The buildings of Apraksin Dvor nestle between Sadovaya Stree ...
. She then began to gather material for a new direction in her work by studying the culture of music and musicians. USSR Composers Union and Ministry of Culture, summer 1987. She received permission to attend rehearsals of what is now the
Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (russian: Симфонический оркестр Санкт-Петербургской филармонии, ''Symphonic Orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia'') is a Russian orchestra based ...
and of other ensembles, doing so for four to six hours a day, getting to know musicians and producing hundreds of charcoal sketches, and reading music-related literature. She exhibited this early music-related work at what is now the
Saint Petersburg Philharmonia
Saint Petersburg Philharmonia (), officially the Saint Petersburg Academic Philharmonia Named After D. D. Shostakovich (), is a music society located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and is the name of the building where it is housed. Also there is ...
. The hall's director, Dmitry Ivanovich Sollertinsky, facilitated her work by giving her an on-site studio and a pass granting access to nearly all rehearsals and concerts at the Philharmonia. During this period, Apraksina experienced conflicts with the
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
, nominally related to her contacts with foreigners.
Students and relatives of
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...
assisted in the creation of Apraksina's first portrait of the composer, known for its unusual approach of depicting the composer's face at different ages on the same canvas. As part of the observances of Shostakovich's 80th birthday, the artist donated the portrait to what is now the
Saint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...
, which hung the work in Room 36, where the composer taught his classes. The portrait was later moved to today's Saint Peterburg Composers' Union, where it remains on permanent display.
In later years, Apraksina's exploration of classical music continued. Russia. No.1 (5), 1991. In 1987, the
Kurchatov Institute
The Kurchatov Institute (russian: Национальный исследовательский центр «Курчатовский Институт», 'National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute) is Russia's leading research and developmen ...
and the Glinka Museum of Musical Culture were among institutions in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
to host Apraksina's exhibits. She also worked with the
Borodin Quartet
The Borodin Quartet is a string quartet that was founded in 1945 in the then Soviet Union. It is one of the world's longest-lasting string quartets, having marked its 70th-anniversary season in 2015.
The quartet was one of the Soviet Union's best ...
. Apraksina's relationship with the composer
Aleksandr Lokshin
Aleksandr Lazarevich Lokshin (russian: Алекса́ндр Ла́заревич Локши́н) (1920–1987) was a Soviet composer of classical music. He was born on 19 September 1920 in the town of Biysk, in the Altai Region, Western Siberia, ...
, occasioned by painting his portrait Berkeley, Calif., 2016. just prior to his death, would remain significant in later years as the artist took an active role in rehabilitating the slandered composer's reputation through her writing. Moscow: Dialog-Moscow State University Press, 1998 2nd edition, expanded. Moscow: MAKS-Press, 2005. The writing also embodied a first public statement of the risks to which painting and displaying the portrait had exposed her career. From ''"Genius of Evil" and "A Face That Held No Riddles"'', 1st edition. Moscow: MAKS-Press, 2003.
Apraksina first exhibited in the United States as a Soviet artist through the Art League of Chicago and
Soros Foundation
Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a sta ...
support. The seven-month tour, featuring eleven exhibits from the East to the West Coast of the U.S., also included the artist's lectures.
In 1994, 1995 and 1997, Apraksina exhibited and lectured at the
Ivan Sollertinsky Ivan Ivanovich Sollertinsky (3 December 1902, Vitebsk – 11 February 1944, Novosibirsk) (Cyrillic: ''Ива́н Ива́нович Соллерти́нский'') was a Soviet polymath. He specialized in fields including linguistics, theatre, liter ...
International Music Festival in
Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest ci ...
,
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
.
In 1998, in the building of the
Twelve Collegia
The Twelve Collegia, or Twelve Colleges (russian: Двeнaдцaть Коллегий), is the largest edifice from the Petrine era remaining in Saint Petersburg. It was designed by Domenico Trezzini and Theodor Schwertfeger and built from 1722 ...
,
Saint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...
's Center for Contemporary Art held a retrospective exhibit drawn from Apraksina's body of work in parallel with her "March Solo" festival, organized in partnership with the Center for Cultural Studies at the university's department of philosophy. Her "brief segments" on creativity, ''Lessons for 'Orly'', were published in the annual journal of the university's St. Petersburg Philosophical Society in 2000. St. Petersburg State University. No. 4, 2000.
In 2008, Apraksina's ''California Psalms'', written in
Big Sur
Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...
,
was among the laureates of the international poetry competition held by the
Russian Foreign Ministry
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MFA Russia; russian: Министерство иностранных дел Российской Федерации, МИД РФ) is the central government institution charged with lea ...
in partnership with ''Literary Gazette''. introduction to ''I dream in Russian: Poems by Russians living abroad.'' Moscow: Roszarubezhtsentr, Moscow Union of Friendship Societies, "Literary Gazette" Publishing, 2007. She has continued to produce "Apraksin Blues" while based in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Aug. 8, 2009. She is a member of the Prof. V.I. Startsev International Association of Historical Psychology.