Exchange of experience

Today, I’ll share a bit about my recent exhibition in Turkey, which took place in November in Istanbul.

Since December is such a defining month, my attention quickly shifted to wrapping up other projects in Moscow upon my return. However, today, I want to share at least a few thoughts.

The exhibition and the preliminary exchange of experience were truly fascinating. The first part felt like a closed master studio, as the event wasn’t public. There were no entertainment elements, just the daily work of artists who painted and talked together in the same space.

The artists were carefully selected by the organizer, Emilia Ozgan. Indeed, the group was fantastic.

In Turkey, pastel art isn’t as popular as, for example, oil painting. All pastel artists can usually be found at the studio of Javad Soleymanpour. He has been working with pastel for a long time and takes his craft very seriously. While he explores various subjects, his preference leans toward portraits.

Javad often works on primed cardboard, sometimes applying an initial layer of acrylic to give the base a foundational tone for the subject, such as skin hue for portraits.

At the event, Javad was one of the two masters who gave live demonstrations, creating a portrait from life as well as a floral composition.

The second part of the demonstrations was led by Vicente Romero Redondo, a renowned Spanish pastel artist.

I was invited to the event as an international master, where I observed the demonstrations and painted alongside everyone in the studio.

There were about 15 invited artists, each with extensive experience and a distinctive style. Working together provided a fantastic opportunity to observe different approaches to art.

We painted for four days. Then, just a day later, the exhibition opened at the gallery in Istanbul.

The event turned out to be large-scale and high-profile. There was significant media coverage, two ambassadors—Turkish and Chinese—an official ceremony, filming, and interviews. It was, in fact, my first experience giving an interview in English in front of ambassadors.

We didn’t spend much time interacting with visitors at the exhibition, as our group of artists was only at the event for about three hours before being taken to the next part of the program. Afterward, we spent several more days in Cappadocia.

For the exhibition in Turkey, I brought five paintings, including "Mid-Summer," which remains in Turkey for now.

It was an excellent experience that made me reflect on the art environment in different countries, the personalities of people, and their focus of attention.

The higher an artist’s level becomes, the more responsibility he is towards his work. Conversations about inspiration are rare in professional circles, but when they do happen, they are an immense pleasure.

In addition to the project, we spent several days exploring Istanbul and Cappadocia. My perception of Turkey changed significantly during this trip—it became more nuanced and multidimensional.

Wishing all Catholics a Merry Christmas!