At the intersection of ideas, technologies, laws of nature
The Russian artist Alexander Pankin (1938-2020) belongs to the generation of the 1960s, he lived and worked in Moscow. His paintings trace the search for harmony through sequences of numbers, constants, pictorial and graphic solutions. The objects of observation are what surrounds us in everyday life: poems, music, the sea, the butterfly wing... In all objects and phenomena, the author looked for proportions, confirmation and manifestation of digital patterns. By education, A. Pankin was an architect. For many decades, he united work five days a week with creativity on weekends, calling himself a Sunday artist.
The peculiarity of the exposition was immediately manifested by coincidences. The artist was offered to organize the first public exhibition when he was already 47 years old and he went through several creative periods. And it happened in Dubna. In 1985, the curator Violetta Mukhoyarova provides him with a small hall in the Scientists’ Club at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and this event subsequently served as a creative impetus for Alexander Pankin.
The artist's last lifetime exhibition was held in 2019 at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art. Its curator was Nikita Spiridonov - an artist, composer, organizer of interdisciplinary projects uniting visual art, sound and urban ecology. The 50 paintings by A. Pankin: paintings, graphics, installations, as well as archival documents are exhibited in the JINR Gallery. In fact, this is the first major retrospective of the master's works since 2019. Including in one of the halls the Dubna exhibition of 1985 was reproduced.
The curator of the exhibition Nikita Spiridonov (in the photo) said on an excursion that Alexander Pankin was born in the family of engineers and it affected his work that is characterized by a technical approach, constructivism, analytics and extraordinary solutions. During the thaw, it became possible to see avant-garde artists, European and American artists, influenced by the 1957 youth festival, an exhibition in Sokolniki. These events helped to reveal new talents and artistic areas. In the 1960s, A. Pankin was one of the first to create abstract works. Later, he adjoins the New Reality group, founded by Eliy Belyutin in Abramtsevo and by the time of perestroika, he has already found his way. Kazimir Malevich's first public exhibition in the Soviet Union in 1989 had a great influence on his worldview. It became a turning point, the artist saw in these works the harmony of the universe that allowed uniting his architectural and artistic skills.
The organizers recommend starting the tour of the exposition of the Gallery with the late works of the master, in which research models, results, calculations are most clearly shown.
It should be highlighted that the interior of the Gallery creates a special entourage for the works of A. Pankin. The intersection of strict geometric lines - straight and arched, panoramic windows with an autumn landscape, loft structures under the ceiling frame the canvases as if hanging in the air, creating a bizarre, illusory world. Even reportage photos here turn out to be some kind of fantasy, from a different reality. And having familiarized yourself with the concepts and works of Alexander Pankin on a curatorial excursion, you involuntarily begin to look closely at the shadows cast by lighting, solar glare on the floor, window bindings to find Malevich rectangles or Fibonacci number series in them. So, the common journalistic stamp "the paintings began to play with new colors" can be taken literally and enjoyed the effect - how the eternal laws captured and revealed in the works of A. Pankin turned out to be consonant with today's intellectual needs of the city residents.
To hold events in such a place on the subject of a combination of science and art, philosophy, history and other disciplines is the right and necessary decision, such spaces inspire, make you think, contribute to the development of creative thought.
Nikita Spiridonov spoke a little about the plans laid down in the project in a mini-interview with our newspaper.
Is this your first project in Dubna?
- In October 2021, we organized the screening of my film "Points, lines and zigzags" at the Cultural Centre “Mir”. But it was a very different project. It was associated with the legacy of the amateur film studio Dubna-film that has existed here since the late 1950s. I then digitized several films that Oleg Orelovich, the ex‑head of the studio, provided to me. Based on these films, he has already created his own film. And so, we arranged a joint screening of historical films and mine.
How do you feel about the city and about what happens here?
- As welcome as possible. It's very heartwarming here. Literally today, I got out of the train, walked, watching incredible autumn views. Moreover, the city is chamber, very attractive to itself. In my opinion, it differs from all other small towns in a focused institutional life. It is somehow immediately felt in the atmosphere. It seems to me that there is a very grateful audience, very sensitive, very receptive.
The exhibition will last several months and the first round table has already been held. Are any other events scheduled during this time?
- Yes, the round table was called "How to extract the meaning of life from a quadratic equation", session No. 1. We are planning another sessions No. 2 and No. 3 - in November and December. In addition, we plan to hold a presentation of the exhibition catalog and several other events within the framework of a parallel programme.
Exhibition "Alexander Pankin. Number as an event" will last until 15 February, 2027. You can register for the tour on the official website of the JINR Gallery. Follow the announcements for upcoming events.
Galina MYALKOVSKAYA, photo by the author