VLADEY, in collaboration with OVCHARENKO, presents a solo exhibition of Vlad Kulkov, one of the key contemporary Russian abstract artists. The exhibition titled “Riturnelle” will take place at VLADEY with “Atlantes.”
The name of the exhibition, “Riturnelle,” which in musical and poetic terminology means “refrain” or “chorus,” conveys the cyclical nature of this series of works. This is reflected in the development of the plastic forms, the appearance and fading of various characters, and the spectrum of emotions from comedy to drama and back. “Riturnelle” becomes a symbol of the renewal of creative energy, passing through chaos and inevitably returning to light.
The “Riturnelle” exhibition reveals new facets of Vlad Kulkov’s art. Despite his faithfulness to his creative principles, the artist demonstrates a profound emotional transformation: alongside the previous enthusiasm and energy, there is now a sense of an unsettling mystery.
Some works feature images resembling spirits or ghosts. The artist observes how “unexpected guests” emerge within the free abstraction, encouraging and indulging these beings. Kulkov explains: “I’ve grown fond of characters with delicate ‘necks’. They appeared in the space quite by chance, resembling the iconography of some Asian spirits, who cannot get enough and secretly emerge at night from the wells where they reside, trying to reach something alive nearby.” In this approach, the artist follows Vladimir Nemukhin, a domestic abstract expressionist who more than half a century ago also observed the process of self-revelation of images.
Large, thin, shimmering canvases — “Shifer” and “Inversion” — are based on the concept of a surface-membrane or grid, as discussed by Rosalind Krauss. However, contrary to the theory of the American art critic, Kulkov’s grid does not make the space of art closed or autonomous; it only conditionally encloses it and serves as a connection between interconnected worlds: internal and external, real and virtual.
Vlada Kulkov invites viewers to interpret his works themselves, which is the essence of abstract art. It can be said that these are “open-ended” works. The artist admits: “For example, I often don’t finish watching movies and series because I sometimes prefer an open ending. I can even sleep through most of the action and imagine the rest myself. Then, when I recount the plot to someone, it turns out that such things didn’t happen in the film or series. It’s like an alternative reality.” The same applies to his artworks: the ending will be where the viewer decides, and for each person, it will be their own. Infinite emotions, meanings, images — all of this is the “Riturnelle.”
