Iconography
Images have always been a vital part of the Church. This was especially true when most people weren’t able to read or write. Through the use of images, the Gospel of Christ could be taught and understood by all. Our Festival will feature icons by some of the best-known iconographers of our time.
Our Nave now has the newly installed work of Dmitry Shkolnik. The Gallery will feature works from well-known Texas iconographers.
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Anastasiya Chybireva-Fender
Anastasiya was born in Eastern Europe and immigrated with her parents to the US when she was fourteen. She has received Bachelors and Masters degrees in architecture from The Cooper Union and the University of Texas at Arlington, respectively.
She is recognized as an Associate Living Master by the Art Renewal Center. Additionally she has been awarded recognition by the European Museum of Modern Art, National Portrait Society, Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, Poets Artists, and many others.
Volodymir Grygorenko
"For almost thirty years, I have served the Church as an iconographer. Orthodox Christians believe the icon is the revelation of the Kingdom of Heaven in our material world. The icon reveals the ultimate truth about God and man. To portray the Truth about a subject is the goal of all real art. There is a connection and difference between painting and iconography. A good painter seeks the truth about the created world; an iconographer shows the truth about the Creator. Iconography is the art of arts, and an icon is more a work of art than of craftsmanship. At the same time, we cannot reduce an icon to the level of artifact only – an icon is much more. Only in prayer can an icon fulfill its purpose. Which is why an iconographer must be personally involved in church life.”
Irene Perez
Icon Arts studio owner Irene Perez is an Orthodox Christian iconographer who has been teaching iconography since 2002 and has conducted workshops in the United States, Mexico, the UK, and Italy. Irene Perez has a BFA degree in Studio Arts from the University of Texas at Austin and graduated from the Antiochian House of Studies St. Stephen’s Course, where she received her M.A. in Applied Orthodox Theology with a specialization in Iconology in 2016. Ms. Perez began her studies in iconography with Vladislav Andrejev and, through the years, has taken tempera-painting classes with other iconographers and artists from Eastern Europe and the US. Ms. Perez has organized workshops with other master artists specialized in manuscript illumination and silver repousse.
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For more info visit website: www.iconarts.com
Dmitry Shkolnik
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Dmitry Shkolnik was born in Moscow, Russia in 1960. While studying in high school, he developed a keen interest in Russian religious art. Upon graduation, he pursued a higher education in the field of architecture. Concurrently, he cultivated a knowledge of Russian craft art in the form of lacquer miniatures and Icon restoration.
In 1979-80, he began to work for the Russian Patriarchal Workshops (now known as SOFRINO). In 1981 he immigrated to the United States with his family. He enrolled in the Theological Seminary at The Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY in 1983. In his time there, he apprenticed under the well-known iconographer Archimandrite Ciprian (Pyzhov) for many years. In 1988 Dmitry Shkolnik completed the Seminary with a Bachelors in Theology.
Since 1981 Dmitry Shkolnik has written over 3,000 icons, completed more than 20 iconostasis, and painted numerous church frescoes, murals and wall ornamentations. He is an active member of the International Union of Artists, and has collaborated with some of the most noted Russian iconographers, including Alexander Lavdansky, Alexy Vronsky, Anton Yarzhombeck, Constantine Bokarev and others. You can see his work in churches and private collections all over the United States from Florida to Alaska, Canada, Central and South America, France, Australia, Japan, Russia, Greece, and many other countries.
Athanasios Evangelopoulos
Athanasios Evangelopoulos has been writing icons for more than 40 years, having exported his work to several countries in Europe. He follows the traditional Byzantine techniques of Hagiography using egg tempera and 10-carat gold leaf. He learned his first steps in Hagiography by watching the renowned Iconogrpher, monk Pachomaioi (pron. Pachomay) on Mount Athos.
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Martha Papantonopoulos, the daughter of Athanasios Evangelopoulos and owner of the Icon Gallery has been exhibiting her family's icons in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for more than 10 years.
Contact her at: mp_vincent@hotmail.com.
Company website: www.theicongallery.com"
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