Vadim Grigoryev-Bashun
The New Beauty

Vadim-Grigoryev-Bashun always strived to be relevant, taking some dramatic leaps between art forms and genres in the past: a successful abstract painter in the 1990s, he had lived and exhibited his works across Europe, only to become fully engrossed in the symbolism of runic characters and the medium of photography later on. With a change of trend, Vadim turned to art objects which he crafts all by himself, from physical form to embedded software. The recent years saw his return to figurative painting.

A bold and open-minded view of reality drives the artist to address currently relevant issues. His works of the past few years are an obvious satire of the present times. For instance, Grigoryev-Bashun spent several years building his Air-Burial Vehicle – a kinetic art object looking like a cross between an Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, a Slavic treetrunk coffin, and an airplane perfect for an epic relocation to the netherworld. In another piece, a monitor screen simultaneously alludes to Malevich’s Black Square and the ‘black mirror’ of present-day reality. The New St. Petersburg Types diptych, shortlisted for the 2024 Erarta Prize, is an accurate depiction of the modern urban milieu, with self-assured tattooed ladies riding their e-scooters into the blazing sun and a hard-working delivery man pedalling his bike through pouring rain.

The exhibition features only a fraction of works from different series. Expanding on a previously discovered method, the artist gives a contemporary edge to the traditional painting. His canvases physically project out of their frames, turning into something entirely new. The most recent work, Chameleon, marries literal meaning and metaphor. The titular chameleon, as befits this creature, is trying hard to blend in with the constantly shifting reality: holding on to a branch with its last bit of strength, it timidly changes its colours.