Exhibition 'Retrospective. Chapter I' by Vladimir Fateev
The CK19 Cultural Center presents a solo exhibition by Vladimir Fateev, 'Retrospective. Chapter I'. The exhibition includes about 100 works from the artist's family's collection and private collections: canvases from the 'Biblical Cycle', sketches for stage productions, as well as signature works featuring the artist's favorite subjects (cats, sailors, bouquets, provincial scenes, etc.).
"When looking at Vladimir Fateev's paintings, the word 'brilliant' doesn't come as a compliment — uttered, offered — but as the natural, sole definition of what you see," asserts theater scholar Svetlana Drozdovich.
The large-scale exhibition impresses with loud, pure color — a meaning-forming expressive device of the artist's creative method. "To say that Fateev is a painter from God is too banal. One must see how, obeying a logic known only to him, the familiar world is transformed, acquiring a fantastic vibrancy of color," clarifies art historian Svetlana Kogan. The exhibited works abound in gentle humor, colorful characters, and fantastical narratives, while inviting the viewer to reflect on the serious content of the works.
Vladimir Fateev is also widely known as a theater designer. A master — author of scenography for more than 70 productions in various theaters across Russia. He worked as the chief artist of the Regional Drama Theater and the Theater for Young Audiences. For about thirty years he collaborated with the drama theater under the direction of Sergey Afanasyev and headed the theater-decorative department of the Novosibirsk State Art College.
"We all know Volodya as a great artist, but he was also a unique person who attracted those around him. ... I always liked that he had none of the pomposity typical of major serious artists. ... Throughout the entire production period he was always nearby, and it was clear that a new play for him was as much the birth of a work of art as the birth of poetry in his paintings," shares Sergey Afanasyev, artistic director of the City Drama Theater.
CK19 Cultural Center thanks the artist's family, collectors Boris Pasman and Vasily Vasilts, and the Novosibirsk City Drama Theater under the direction of Sergey Afanasyev for loaning the works.
The exhibition runs until June 16, 2024.