Serge Segay (real name Sergey Vsevolodovich Sigov , 19 March 1947 - 21 September 2014), also known as Sergej Sigej, was a Russian artist, poet, writer as well as specialist in Russian Futurism. Many of his artworks are in private and public collections throughout the world. He was an important figure in Transfurism movement as an artist, poet, writer, as well as a prominent figure in

Mail art Mail art, also known as postal art and correspondence art, is an artistic movement centered on sending small-scale works through the mail, postal service. It developed out of what eventually became Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence School and ...

history. He was also key member of "Uktuss School" and "Anarfut" art movements.

Early life

Segay was born in Murmansk, Russia on 19 March 1947. His father was a dean of Taganrog university and communist "aparatchik". After school he got a place in Taganrog university, studying Russian literature, with multiple private tutors being paid by his father. Arrangement did not last however, as there was a row between Serge Segay and his father about

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

, which at that point was deemed as contradicting party guidelines. Row was very bad: Serge Segay run away from home (apparently also in attempt to see exhibition of

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

's paintings in Vitebsk) and his early paintings were destroyed by his father. As a result, he abandoned his education pursuits. Only much later in life, in 1985, he graduated from Saint Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy, with diploma in

Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...

's drama.

Marriage

He married Ry Nikonova in 1966. Their families were tied by friendship forged during exile years - both Serge Segay's grandmother and Ry Nikonova's grandcousin were exiled together to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. Introduced by their parents, they got close via discussing each other's artwork.

Career

Anarfuts (Vologda)

He was a key figure in movement of Anarcho-futurists in

Vologda Vologda (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda (river), Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as ...

, Russia, in 1962-1965. At that time he starts writing his first

Zaum () are the linguistic experiments in sound symbolism and language creation of Russian Cubo-Futurist poets such as Velimir Khlebnikov and Aleksei Kruchenykh. Zaum is a non-referential phonetic entity with its own ontology. The language con ...

and abstract verses.

Uktuss School (Yekaterinburg)

Since 1965, he was a member of "Uktuss School" art movement in

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

, Russia. During this time, in 1969, he creates his first "verbal pictures" or " visual poems". In 1970, his first

sound poetry Sound poetry is an artistic form bridging literary and musical composition, in which the phonetic aspects of human speech are foregrounded instead of more conventional semantic and syntactic values; "verse without words". By definition, sound poe ...

. He was an author in samizdat journal "Nomer".

Transfurism (Yeysk, Saint-Petersburg)

In 1974, he moves to

Yeysk Yeysk () is a port and a resort town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the shore of the Taganrog Gulf of the Sea of Azov. The town is built primarily on the Yeysk Spit, which separates the Yeya River from the Sea of Azov. Population: ...

with his

wife A wife (: wives) is a woman in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until their marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgment; or until death, depending on the kind of marriage. On t ...

. They start publishing

samizdat Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual rep ...

journal Transponans in 1979, in 5 copies. They entertain numerous guests from both Russian capitals, creating art and poetry in collaboration. Their

abode becomes the cultural centre for Russian art and literature underground. They also make multiple performances in

Saint-Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

during these years. Serge Segay becomes close friend of Nikolai Khardzhiev. He also corresponds with Igor Bakhterev. His paintings during this period feature some obvious symbols: Russian letter 'yat', square heads, centauri and crosses. Early paintings are mostly black and white with occasional colour. Then follows a period of very colourful paintings and painted cloths, influenced by his fascination with Nomadic culture of berbers. At a later stage, he freely mixes both styles with other techniques. Of course, ideas of Transfurism, of mixing visual, verbal and sound, therefore transcending medium ties, are often featured in his body of work during this period and later on. He also published many articles during this period on

Russian Futurism Russian Futurism is the broad term for a movement of Russian poets and artists who adopted the principles of Filippo Marinetti's "Futurist Manifesto, Manifesto of Futurism", which espoused the rejection of the past, and a celebration of speed, ...

, as well as a book of Vasilisk Gnedov's work. Since 1991, he participates in another

journal, "Double", which was published by Ry Nikonova in 1991-2001.

Mail art

Serge Segay joins

movement in 1985. Later on, he organized first international

exhibition in the USSR in 1989, which also happened to be first international art exhibition in

, Russia. He corresponds with numerous artists around the world, including Robin Crozier, John M. Bennett,

Guy Bleus Guy Bleus (born October 23, 1950) is a Belgian artist, archivist and writer. He is associated with olfactory art, visual poetry, performance art and the mail art movement. His work covers different areas, including administration (which he ca ...

Shozo Shimamoto was a Japanese artist. Having studied with Jirō Yoshihara, the future Gutai leader, from 1947, Shimamoto was a key founding member of Gutai along with Yoshihara and fifteen others in August, 1954. He was close to the leader Yoshihara and act ...

and others. He also participates in many

projects.

Late period (Kiel)

He emigrated to Germany together with his

in 1998. Initial efforts of integration were thwarted by Ry's diagnosis of cancer, which she subsequently fought for 10 years. Still, Serge Segay continues to participate in

projects, creates

visual poetry Visual poetry is a style of poetry that incorporates graphic and visual design elements to convey its meaning. This style combines visual art and written expression to create new ways of presenting and interpreting poetry. Visual poetry focuses on ...

and paintings. His own cancer was left undiagnosed until it was too late.

Death

He died on 21 September 2014 in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, Germany .

Notes

References and sources

;References ;Sources * Chuck Welch (Ed.), ''Eternal Network: A Mail Art Anthology'' Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 1995. . * John Held Jr., ''Mail Art: An Annotated Bibliography'', Metuchen 1991 * Jean-Noël Laszlo (editor), ''Timbres d'Artistes'', Musée de la Poste, Paris 1993 * Géza Perneczky, ''The Magazine Network: The Trends of Alternative Art in the Light of Their Periodicals 1968–1988'', Köln 1993

External links

Bibliography of transfurists

Gallery of Serge Segay's paintings

Gallery of Serge Segay's artist books and samizdat publications

Works and information on Serge Segay at IUOMA {{DEFAULTSORT:Segay, Serge 20th-century Russian painters Russian male painters Contemporary painters Russian male poets 1947 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Russian poets People from Murmansk 20th-century Russian male writers 20th-century Russian male artists Visual poets