10 · 21 · 23 “A Formidable Artist”: The 21st FICM Paid Homage to Ricardo Nicolayevsky Share with twitter Share with facebook Share with mail Copy to clipboard Berenice Andrade Berenice Andrade In company of Rosa Nicolayevsky, sister of Ricardo Nicolayevsky, and friends of the artist, the 21st Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) paid homage to the great Mexican performer, filmmaker, writer, musician, and beloved friend of the FICM Ricardo Nicolayevsky with an special screening called Impromptu. Curated by filmmaker and artist Ximena Cuevas, the exhibition gathers several experimental short films and media projects by Nicolayevsky, which display his great artistic genius, sensibility and talent. Ximena Cuevas Moved and with her voice cracking, founder and General Director of the FICM, Daniela Michel, remembered their decades-long friendship: “I am glad to present this homage to an incomparable friend, Ricardo Nicolayevsky, a formidable artist very special to me, that I had the privilege to meet in 1996. I fell in love with Ricardo’s work from the moment I knew it. It was love at first sight.” On the other hand, Ximena Cuevas, also moved by the homage, spoke on the artistic qualities of Nicolayevsky. “Everything Ricardito touched, turned into art, with a total and absolute mastery of the genuine, not queer through his sexuality, but queer as a person who broke rules and languages, and who was always in the search for difference and freedom. His work goes directly to our emotions,” said Ximena Cuevas. Born in Mexico City in 1961, Ricardo Nicolayevsky expressed his artistic abilities early in his life: from a very young age he began painting and writing poetry. In the 80s, he moved to America to study Film at the New York University, where he also took lessons of musical composition, harmony and musicology with Samuel Zyman (New York, Julliard) and David Bradshaw (The Music Center). Rosa Nicolayevsky At that time Nicolayevsky began his Lost Portraits project (1982-1985) a series of lyrical portraits of friends and colleagues filmed in Super 8 and 16 mm over several years in Mexico and New York, immortalizing the spirit of the underground culture of the time. Years later, this project was part of the first retrospective of the visual artist, experimental filmmaker, musician and writer, that was presented in 2018 at the Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros in Mexico City as well as the Centro de Cultura Digital, the Museo de Arte Moderno de México (INBAL), and the MUAC, after being presented at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA). The impact of the exhibition at the MoMA led the museum to acquire Nicolayevsky's work for its permanent collection. Throughout his career he also composed piano pieces that he performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. He made music for short films, plays and radio programs, while he also ventured into performance and cabaret with his ensemble Cabaret Gutenberg. However, his audiovisual work was his most recognized, winning first place in the experimental video category at the 2nd Mexico City International Film Festival in 1999 and the Premio del Público at the 4th Mix Mexico Sexual Diversity Film Festival in 2000. His movies and videos were presented in galleries, museums, festivals and special screenings in Mexico, the United States of America, Canada, Brazil, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Ricardo Nicolayevsky passed away in June 2023.
