The main purpose of the exposition
consists in showing the works that were made
after 1981. By that time, after the first personal
exposition, it became possible to make certain
observations regarding the most stable interests
of the artist following his creative path. The
observations made it possible to take a more
conscientious approach the choice of themes
and the treatment thereof, to concentrate his
attention on things which are closer to his
heart, which are better understood, and, henceforth
– to become more sincere in his creative work.
But sincerity is a sister of
wisdom whose language is always turned in the
direction of the real life. Its images, and
nothing else, are capable of expressing the
entire richness of the shadings of relations
among humans, and it is only in the human face
that we can feel the inexhaustible depth of
the human personality, and it is such face only
that becomes dear to us. This is how I have
come to understand the portrait as the supreme
task of art. But understanding does not automatically
mean mastering. There gradually began to be
discerned the path along which it is possible
to go in order to resolve the task which was
stated at the end of the annotation for the
personal exposition of 1981. I can express here
in a somewhat different manner: the informal
character of the spatial rendering of the composition
– is the instrument of the plastic thinking
and the method of inserting the image into the
cultural and historical context. In essence,
it is not a matter of humanizing the formal
achievements of the contemporary art, but a
matter of using those for the purpose of a more
adequate expression of the human sense of the
theme. This is one of the possible explanations
of the plastic of the space and the form of
the exhibited pieces, as well as an explanation
of their approximation to the realistic line.
The section of the nature study and portrait
is waiting patiently for the final acceptance
of its language by the structure of the topical
composition. Yet another task of the exposition
consists in comparing the new works against
the earlier ones which are close to the new
ones in their meaning, to plot the path. The
revealing character of the meaning of the portrait
allows, it seems to me, to hope for a more meaningful
walking of that path.
But this is a perspective rather.
Valery Yevdokimov
1992 |