Back in the better days when flights to Moscow were not just possible, but also quite affordable and frequent I planned my trips to incorporate visits to renowned fine art museums and galleries. During one such visits I was lucky to view a rare installation of works by Valery Koshlyakov (b. 1962) in the New Tretyakov Gallery.
Valery Koshlyakov, Grand Canal
The fresco-like monumental paintings were loosely assembled from large sheets of corrugated cardboard salvaged from a furniture store dumpster. The artist used tempera and gouache to create the dreamy and atmospheric vistas of Italy the way he imagined based on the old art books with back-and-white photography. These were not paintings of real places, but impressions of the imagined land. Yet, they looked unbelievably authentic, reminding me of my trip to Rome a few years prior: the same color palette, the same crumbling aesthetic.
Aincient frescoes in the National Historiacal Meseum of Rome
What is particularly impressive about the series of these works is the sheer scale and confidence of making it work given the choice of medium and material. The artist's audacity and fervor can be possibly compared to how J.M.W. Turner paintings impressed his contemporaries.
J.M.W. Turner, Venice, The Mouth of the Grand Canal
The most impressive part was the palpable feeling of the artist's intimate contact with the surface. His ability to work with and around the torn edges, jagged cuts and peeling layers is uncanny and deserves a closer look.
Enjoy the slideshow of the snapshots taken back in Moscow in 2018:
