In the Urals, in a wing at the crossroads of Malakhovskaya Street and Razgulyaiskaya Street, in three days after the first pictures of the dark side of the Moon had been taken, I was born.
Graduated Architecturel Institute.
Worked as an assistant art director, made book illustration, wood sculptures, broadside advertisement, and worked in typography.
The first personal exhibition was in Architecturel Institute in 1983 - Illustration for the Bulgakov's novel "Master and Margarita". Took part in the city, provincial and regional exhibitions.
In 2009, in the gallery "Helmet" was a personal exhibition "Colorimetry of Face. Polygonal painting. "
In 2011, in the gallery "PoLe", personal exhibition "Russians"
Since 2008 I have been working in the author's style of Polygonal Painting. The style has no direct analogues in the visual arts.
Polygonal Painting is a system of Objects display on a plane based on:
- intuitive division them into conditional polygons, with no obvious base on the structure, anatomy and chiaroscuro (achromatic stage)
- assignment a certain color and its gradations to each polygon (chromatic stage).
Polygonal Painting is, basically, picturesque graphics, i.e. an attempt to draw rather than to paint in oils. Image consists of graphic lines and picturesque spots. A certain structure is created, the elements of which are seemingly random. Polygons (scraps, free-form planes) composing an image (3D) simultaneously destroy and create a form. It is "the fascinating geometry of the artistic space" that is created, as some journalist wrote.
It is worth adding that the style takes its origins from the modern ( Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, Secession... ); ~1890 - 1915; Mucha, Beardsley, Vrubel, Brangwyn...
Despite the fact that the style is authorial, and the authorship belongs to me, I hold that all portraits and paintings are works of mine only partially, since during their creation process, I am only a tool and a conductor of some
Creative Force. In other words, I am just a pencil in the hands of the Creator. I cannot explain the appearance of one or another grid of polygons on a sheet of paper, as well as their subsequent "coloring" in oil on canvas. Sometimes a few years later, I curiously view some fragments of my paintings, sincerely not understanding how the hell it was done.
Neither praise, nor criticism (even stupid and pointless ) bother and excite me at all, since I do not consider myself an author in the full sense.
To be honest, I take the money when somebody buys the paintings, since I need to pay for the paints.
As far as the criticism concerns, I'd like to add that within the period of existence of my paintings in the Internet, I've come across diametrically opposed assessments and came to the conclusion that any criticism, even rough abusive one, is useful.
Once I was asked to write a few words under my portrait of Yesenin ( 2016 ) for a collection album. Here is the result:
Wonderfully strong and vulnerably fragile man looked at me with light heart in pain. In his eyes were mortal daring and reckless sadness, the sky burning with stars and dazzling cold sun. Red and golden autumn of his hair melted in black and turquoise fields of greenery. I touched the portrait and felt that a piece of my heart was in each particle of paint.
If you type "Polygonal Painting" in a search engine, the most part of results will show information on polygonal graphics, which is a part of digital ( computer ) graphics. It appeared in 3D modeling to reduce the weight of figures due to polygons. Then the creation of a polygonal image moved to Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw and Adobe Photoshop.
It's interesting to create such pictures and many people are able to do that. Drawing skill is not necessary in this case. The thing is that it is only piccies that look at you from the screen and the printer. Nothing more. Bright and beautiful. But dead. Just like most of the carrion made with a puter. I know that many people, on the contrary, like it more than real painting and graphics. Well, "whatever floats your boat". Let everyone love what and how they want—I just share my opinion and experience.
I'll make my point at once: computer, scanner, printer, camera may and must assist an artist but(!): only at the preparatory, auxiliary stages. When the technique starts ruling, the creativity disappears, and painting dies.
My polygonal painting has nothing to do with computer.
Everything is born in the soul, in the head, and is embodied by pencil and brush.
Let no one be deceived by the term "polygon". It just hit me to give such a name to my style in 2009 when the first works appeared.
Summarizing the above, I'll add that the style and material an artist is working in and with are not important. What is important is the depth to which the author is able to penetrate, embodying his plan, subtility and sincerity of feelings which he has managed to put into the work created by him. Along with professional performance and singularity of his plan.
I'll also share my personal answer here to the question: "what is a work of art?" In case of painting.
First: It’s "Harmony".
Painting must cause only a range of positive emotions, sense of joy, happiness, beauty, strength ( but, once it is a range — let it be light sadness as well ).
Polenov: "... art must give happiness and joy, otherwise it is worthless. There is so much misery, so much vulgarity and filth in life, and if the art splashes horrors and villainies all over you, it will be too hard to live".
Serov: "In this century, they paint only nasty works, no pleasant ones at all. I want the pleasant and I will paint only the pleasant paintings".
Van Gogh: "Painting is a wall decoration".
Second: It’s "Inaccessibility". In other words – high level of professionalism.
A work of art cannot be created by a human being who neither masters at least one threshold of the necessary skill, basics of perspective, anatomy, nor has the true gift of "color hearing", nor knows the painting technology and history, etc. Of course, there are exceptions. It is next to impossible to copy a true work of art adequately. For example, Danae by Rembrandt or The Penitent Magdalene by Titian, who, by the way, applied all possible kinds of glazing in the painting.
And third: It’s "Emotionality".
It is critical for a work of art to be sensible, vivid, warm. It must have the depth and communicate with the viewer, keep him not only with the harmony of color and virtuosity of craft, but with the energy of evoked feelings as well. The painting must touch him to the heart, make him think, dream, smile and be sad. It should have a touch of history. At the age of twenty, Fyodor Vasilyev painted his Thaw. The whole Russia is felt through it.
It is the third point that seems to be the main one.
Alexander Vygalov
8 950 1939 517
boart@inbox.ru