Valentin Gubarev: "Art should be rough. Everything slips off the glossy surface..."

Valentin GubareV:

"art should bE rough. EvErything sliPs off thE glossy surfaCE..."

Valentin Gubarev is one of the most famous contemporary Belarusian artists. His name is well known to connoisseurs of fine arts both in the country and abroad. Critics call him "Belarusian Bruegel", one of the albums of the popular series "The Best Contemporary Artists" is dedicated to his work. The fact that the prestigious French gallery Gallerie Berthéas Les Tournesols has an exclusive contract with him for many years is evidence of the recognition of Valentin Gubarev's work in Western Europe.

The main theme of Valentin Gubarev's work, which was confirmed by his recent personal exhibition at the National Art Museum, is the everyday life of ordinary people. Provincial cities and towns, narrow streets with low-rise buildings, small courtyards and small, simply furnished rooms, people going about their everyday affairs or indulging in simple human joys. But the artist's everyday scenes are not a naturalistic description of everyday life. Gubarev's works are made in a naive, almost cheap popular print manner, the figures of people, their gestures and postures look grotesque, the colors are bright and juicy. All this creates an atmosphere of celebration, reveries, dreams, even phantasmagoria. Living an ordinary everyday life, the characters of Gubarev's paintings – simple, unremarkable people – subconsciously dream of something bigger, of some better, wonderful life. And the author shows us these dreamers with sincere warmth and kind irony.

Valentin Gubarev's work is often referred to as naive painting. But his works are by no means "naive" in the ordinary sense of the word. Apparent innocence is a form with which a peculiar "Gubarev" atmosphere of romance is created in everyday life, capable of attracting viewers of varying degrees of sophistication in art. But the impeccable accuracy and consistency of style, the richness of the content of each work speak of the high professional skill of the author. In the works of Gubarev there is no folk primitive painting stylization, the "naivety" here is deeply thought out and masterfully built. In general, Gubarev's plots consist of many carefully written small details. But at the same time, the composition of each work remains internally integral and harmonious. Paintings by Valentin Gubarev can evoke a variety of feelings in different viewers: someone feels nostalgic memories, someone feels irony, laughter, surprise or delight, a feeling of emotion, and someone, perhaps, can be led to serious reflections on the meaning of human existence...

Of course, personal exhibition of Valentin Gubarev at the National Art Museum of Belarus is a large-scale event that made it possible to get to know the artist's work better. Yes, he writes such familiar everyday life, filled with warm images from childhood. An atmosphere of sincerity, romance and dreams reigns in his paintings, which involuntarily makes you smile. Gubarev's canvases, solved with ease and kind irony, have a different effect on the audience: someone plunges into memories, someone laughs heartily at the plots, and someone begins to reflect on the eternal.

Today the Belarusian artist Valentin Gubarev is famous, independent, and, as his colleagues believe, successful. It all started with an ordinary phone call from Moscow 20 years ago. Valentin then picked up the phone, and a pleasant female voice asked him if the artist Gubarev was still alive. Then, when he met with the French, owners of the famous gallery, everything fell into place. It turned out that they accidentally (whether by chance?) got a small catalog on inferior paper with his paintings. The works of an unknown artist from Minsk surprised and interested them. A not very burdensome contract was offered, which he signed when he started working. Valentin usually tells all this with a smile, in which there is surprise, and joy, and a light, subtle irony. He is a great storyteller, observant, impartial to himself: – Some critics write about me: "The main feature of his work is to see the nontrivial in the banal." But this is probably really so. It is interesting for me to look into a small courtyard, a non-parade entrance,

Valentin Gubarev was born in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) on April 14, 1948. He studied at Gorky Art School, and then at the Faculty of Graphics of Moscow Polygraphic Institute. Since 1975 he has been living and working in Minsk. He is a member of the Belarusian Union of Artists. Honorary Member of the Artistic Association "Masterpiece" (Würzburg, Germany). Since 1994 he has had an exclusive contract with the Gallerie Berthéas Les Tournesols (France). Since 2005 participates in auctions Christie's (London), DrouotRichelieu (Paris), Kinsky (Vienna). Personal exhibitions were successfully held in many European countries. V. Gubarev's works are in the Museum of Art of St. Petersburg, the Zimmerli Art Museum (USA), the ProArt Gallery (UAE) and other museums, as well as in numerous private collections in Belarus, Russia, USA, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Japan, Israel and other countries

Valentin Gubarev

an ordinary apartment where everyday life flows, and objects familiar to everyone reign in the interiors. And based on what I saw, to try to make a work of art. I have no battle scenes. But there are always people in the picture and the relationship between them, sometimes loneliness… As a rule, in my paintings small provincial cities live their own lives, ordinary people who are waiting for sympathy and understanding. I am by no means laughing at my heroes. I love them, I worry with them. I am not a historian or a director who makes historical films, where everything should correspond to a particular era. They may reproach him for filming the wrong model of the sewing machine. And for me the main thing is the artistic image. And if some inconsistencies help me to express the idea more clearly, I use them. Basically, I rely on memory, of course, far from ideal, which I carry through my life – childhood, adolescence, adulthood. After all, man is woven from the present, past and future.

As a student at Gorky Art School (now Nizhny Novgorod), I discovered impressionists, post-impressionists, and intensively painted still lifes, imitating Cezanne. Then, in search of myself, I was fascinated by the Cubists. I liked everything and wanted to at least get a little closer to them. And only later, while studying at the Faculty of Graphics of Moscow Polygraphic Institute, I found my own style. One can learn to make engravings, etchings, but not be an artist, because an artist is not a technical skill, it is an inner self.

I came to Minsk before graduation from the institute – to practice at the publishing house "Mastatskaya Litaratura". Then I received a postgraduate work assignment here, although there were invitations to stay in Moscow, to teach at the institute

in Saratov. But I came to the homeland of my wife, whom I met in my second year. I worked in a publishing house, illustrated books, was an art editor. I dreamed of becoming a freelance artist and even determined the Rubicon for myself when this would happen. Of course, I was engaged in personal creativity, but these works of mine were not exhibited at exhibitions – it was believed that they were inappropriate. There has already been a reformation period, but the paintings were almost always rejected because of "inappropriate irony". Those graphic works that sometimes got at exhibitions were always criticized by critics. But I was still pleased that I was noticed. For example, I once made an almost realistic portrait of a plumber from a poultry farm. A simple guy, such a big eared, a lover of mushrooms, fishing – a man without harbouring a grudge against anyone. I was proud that I saw it in him and conveyed it on canvas. It was not a caricature, this portrait showed exactly those qualities that are characteristic of my work – and I was just scolded for them. Because at that time the portrait at the exhibition was supposed to show successful, noble people. There was no place for a little man at such exhibitions.

The first work, which suddenly became known at a large exhibition, was called "Transparency Games". I did not tell anyone about my participation, because if I did, all my acquaintances would nestle to the screens, and there – criticism again. I sit alone, watch, and suddenly my work is shown on the full screen and they say that this picture has become the center of the entire exhibition.

The names of the paintings are important to me. There were two or three cases when the title "ran" in front of the picture. But it often happens that the work is done, but there is no title. I don't want to name the work "Evening" or "It was getting dark", but literal names are also not suitable, I strive to have space for the viewer, his/her imagination. I avoid names that repeat lines from works of mass culture, because they are clichés, although, it is only fair to say that I do have one. Sometimes people, when naming their paintings or photographs on the Internet, use ready-made clichés that are heard, but this is the easiest way. For example, I have a picture of a girl in a winter apple orchard – I could not come up with a name for a very long time. Someone came and said, but it's simple – apples in the snow. But this is too obvious. And the picture already had to be transferred to the exhibition. I couldn't think of anything special, I just called it "Orchard".

If they told me today: we need a few of your paintings for a very important collection, out of two hundred I would choose only four or five. When you need to publish your work, you start to doubt: in this one I did not achieve what I wanted, and this one is ordinary, and here the plot is small, and in this one I failed in technique. Although some pictures for myself, I assess as paradigmatic, title. Once I arrived in Austria, I was handed the catalog of the Christie's auction in London. And I was surprised to see one of my favorite pictures "The Observer" on the cover.

— Still, how long have you come to your caricature style? What creative experiments preceded this?

— I have a completely typical path for an artist – drawing from childhood, art studio, plaster ornaments, Venus de Milo, Socrates, David, still lifes with wax apples and jugs, a stuffed magpie... There was only one desire: to draw "as it really is."

Impressionists and Post-Impressionists – this discovery had a great impact on me. Until I entered the Faculty of Graphics of Moscow Polygraphic Institute, I enthusiastically mastered the painting style of Manet, Cezanne, and then Van Gogh, Matisse and Renoir. Then I smoothly moved on to the Cubists, to Picasso. Now I understand that this is how the path of my self-education and the search for my own creative charisma continued.

— You mentioned that at one time your work was branded as "inappropriate irony." Why do you think this happened?

— Irony at all times worries officials. It has been and will always be so. And when grotesque is added to irony, it scares. It is easier when the object of art causes only blissful pleasure in the viewer.

— But even among the grotesque works, yours do not frighten, at least, the viewer. Tell me, are you deliberately thinking about such a presentation?

— If painting is art, then isolation of the non-trivial from the banal is a great art.

— Where do you get the material for human life depiction?

— My characters in the paintings are people from everyday life. Some people lack happiness a little, but they don't even know about it. I myself love such people: simple and kind-hearted, ready to help and sympathize, not knowing how to hypocrite and intrigue.

— Do you catch yourself, that you create works that can still potentially become a wonder for foreigners?

— In creativity I am a happy person. Because I never worked, taking into account someone's interests and tastes. In this regard, I am completely irresponsible, I paint only what I like myself. This is such an honest and selfless process, like a song of some forest bird. And if to analyze it, it will be clear that the artist is primarily addressed to the viewer. Because he/she recognizes his/her home there, his/her fence, his/her first date, his/ her starry sky above the head. And most importantly, he/she recognizes himself/ herself there. For me, Motherland is not new trolleybuses or currency exchange offices. This is something permanent. The place where people love and are jealous, where fishermen sit on the shores of foggy lakes, and couples are still kissing on the benches... This is the place where my childhood and youth passed. And all this is dear to me and from this I draw inspiration. If I were born in the Caucasus, I would paint mountains, but if I lived by the sea, I would become a marine painter. In other words, it is an environmentally friendly art based on personal experiences. And very deep. Art is not sports or cooking. Only by "sinking" in it deeply, one can achieve something worthwhile. Build a bridge without supports, solve an extremely complex theorem, create a direction in painting... Levitan was "bogged down" in landscapes, and in the history of art he will remain as an unsurpassed landscape

painter. An artist all his/her life can paint only flowers, not oppressed by the thought that before him/her in all ages this has already been done.

— In your paintings, women are always depicted as honey bunches – is this personal preference?

— I pay attention to women with forms that just distinguish the female figure from the male. A woman should be feminine! And it is not the girls from the model catwalks, who look more like ski poles, that get into my paintings, but those ladies whom I meet in the savings bank, in the subway, in the supermarket. Plus – a little grotesque.

— Then tell me, who are your favorite artists today?

— I like the work of many artists, both of the distant past and the present. I will name a few names: Vermeer, Van Eyck, Rublev, Leonardo Da Vinci, Lucian Freud.

— And when you are called "Belarusian Bruegel", do you agree?

— Let them call me what they want. Let Bruegel, let Petrov-Vodkin... I am doing my job.

— Have your paintings been successfully sold at auctions, what are the results of participation therein?

— I had a successful experience of participating in major auctions in Europe. Among them I will note the sale of paintings at CHRISTIE'S in London, as well as "DROUOT-RICHELIEU" in Paris.

— Often, after exhibitions or news about sales at prestigious auctions, the artist receives profitable orders. Do you create custom-made artworks, and how do you think it is harmful or beneficial for the artist?

— Personally, I do not like to work on order. Probably I am just spoiled by the fact that there is an opportunity to make own dreams and ideas come true. Therefore, work brings me pleasure. To work with pleasure on a custom theme, one should love it as own, and this is not always possible. Although the "customized work" itself does not harm the artist – on the contrary, it enriches him/her with new experience and provides means of subsistence.

— You can't call your attitude towards life gloomy, can you?

— My life philosophy is generally straightforward: life is short. Pure thoughts, righteous deeds and love in the heart are what makes it not accidental.

And here is how the author, who is very fond of in France, talks about how Belarusian visitors to museums differ from French ones: — The French have a different attitude to art. Our people come to exhibitions prepared: well, what are you going to show now? The foreign audience is attracted by the creativity itself. They can go home after work and run into the gallery for impressions. They rejoice at any manifestation of art, rejoice and anticipate pleasure.

Yes, Western critics have nicknamed Gubarev "Belarusian Bruegel", but Valentin himself believes that due to the fact that the French do not fully understand our mentality, reviews in foreign publications are superficial. — They write a lot about me there, but I don't really follow. I hope the responses are positive. I think they are like that, since the gallery orders paintings. After all, it will not spoil own reputation. Now even vernissage has been done not for one day, but two. The first is for buyers and those who already have my works, and the second is for everyone. Critics love that this is original. But they do not fully understand the mentality. They only perceive positive energy, kindness.

Valentin Gubarev is quite self-critical. This is how he reflects on his works: — I believe that when you are original, you seem to create your own microcosmos. I hope my works are memorable. Art, in my opinion, should be rough. Everything slips off the glossy surface. And rough art will make one stop, look, and then someday remember about it.

Veniamin mikheev. photos by the aurtor.

Sunset above the Svisloch