Exhibition of November 2016

"The magnitude of infinity" on impressions from Ferapontovo

Conversation art historian Pavel Pavlinov and painter Vitaly Bespyatov before the opening of the exhibition "Ferapontovo-16."

P. P. - Vitaly, what unites your series? What it carries as a whole?

V. B. - The combination of the local climate, lakes and monastery (now museum), the frescoes of Dionysius - all this makes Ferapontovo’s places simple, clear and at the same time mysterious, covert.

P. P. - And what is the origin of the name "Ferapontovo-16"?

V. B. - For the first time I was in Ferapontovo in 2000, on a summer practice after 1 course of Moscow State  Academician Art Institute named after Vasily Surikov. It was a real discovery! After that we come every year! In Moscow, in the State Art Gallery "Na Kashirke" I took the first solo exhibition. Basically there were works of summer practice in 2000. The exhibition called just “Ferapontovo”.

In general, there is little game of senses in the name of the exhibition:

-16 years, as I have been knew Ferapontovo and went there,

-16 - as the year 2016

-16 - as the age of youthful joy and romance.

P. P. - Indeed, Ferapontovo is amazing place. I first went there in 1999, after graduating from the Moscow State University, before the inclusion of the monastery under the protection of UNESCO. I was immediately struck by the special peaceful atmosphere with a combination of nature, old village with a complex volume of the ensemble of the monastery, and the complex frescoes of Dionysius - one of the best performance and preservation of Russian medieval painting. But I was in Ferapontovo only one day.

V. B. - My impressions of Ferapontovo are longer. Actually, I the most interesting to feel and to live in the places where I was. And to convey this experience of life in the works. It is important to look the works together as united stream of experiences that you can feel. They do not interfere and overlap with each other and are arranged in three-dimensional image of the world!

P. P. - I wonder how the people of Ferapontovo reacted to you?

V. B. - Local residents shared their experiences with me, they can spend hours looking at the moon, the stars, or during hours listen to crackling frost! I wonder what they might notice the moon, the stars ... And I wonder in their lives that they can enjoy these things for a long time! ..

P. P. - Yes, they have a very different perception of time, and the colors and large land masses, probably. The inhabitants of the North have much less sound and other information noise.

V. B. - Yes, there is the perception of the nature colors is quite another where. But the outside colors are close coloring of Dionysius frescoes. His pink and green - the similarity of large masses of the Earth. He just gave the depth of the time, of the mountains, the sky ...

P. P. - It seems to me, in the north other range of lighting and hence a greater subordination to main color of the other ones, for example, the color of the sunset. This is as to remind us of a clear hierarchy of the universe.

V. B. - That's for sure! Lighting in the north, and for example, in the south are different! Plus, climate, topography, etc. What is Ferapontovo - so this the painting! Externally - simple forms, restrained, "covert" color. And internally - experiential, peace, contemplation. Easy ... Here we paint the landscape - the sky and the earth. All. Two relations. There will not hide. And by the way you take these two relationships, it will be seen how deeply you feel and what you can. It is clear who you really are ...

P. P. - Vitaly, I am very impressed by your means of expression, poetry and color harmony. But you have and monochrome works.

V. B. - I try to make maximum use of painting materials, but with a strict selection! Reaching to the bare minimum of required. This method gives me the accuracy and credibility of the image of reality, and, as I said, is more suited to my feelings of Ferapontovo. The miracle of the study and birth from the colors very convincing reality - I mean the precision and concreteness of our feelings of happening in our life (and later in the painting of the artist). Thus, it's not in the story - the same "motif" you can paint an infinite number of times. It's not exactly protocol, and in the sense of the reality of life ... And it is in Ferapontovo, I think, most precise sight on life!

P. P. - I still noticed that your work can be traced several topics: lyrical images of the lake in its various states, the theme of the temple and the road ...

V. B. - Painting the lake I have a reason to talk about earthly human life, the rhythmic constancy existence generations of Russian village. The image of temple helps to develop a theme of spirituality, the desire for eternity. A road theme raises questions not only the movement of life, but transience of earthly existence. And returning to the simple but deep color combinations of Dionysius frescoes, his images, rising in heaven, all together it gives a special perception of the magnitude of infinity.