Pierre-Henri Jaccaud, Director of “Skopia” Gallery, Geneva contributed this article to «Art&Signatures» contemporary art magazine.
BULATOV AND THE SWISS PUBLIC
“How is Erik Bulatov’s art perceived by the Swiss public? It is really difficult to answer this question. Switzerland is made up of at least four different cultures linked to each of the national languages, multiplied by all the different geographical, linguistic, religious or economic factors. Switzerland is as much a puzzle as it is a country. Talking about the reception of the work of a foreign/Russian artist on behalf of such a heterogeneous population is an “adventure” that seems perilous to me! I discovered the paintings of Erik Bulatov at the Kunstmuseum in Bern in 1988, during the collective exhibition «Ich lebe-Ich sehe» ( I live-I see) of “non-conformist” Russian artists. Immediately I was fascinated by his work, and have never forgotten that first impression. In 2006, the idea came to me to contact him. Since our meeting, I represent his work.
BULATOV AND THE SWISS
Zurich-Bern-Moscow 1988. A context. An influential man.
Switzerland, for historical, geographical and economic reasons, has been a country of refuge and a hub of international art since the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1970s and 1980s, if the official political capital was Bern, the most important city economically was Zurich, the real financial and industrial center of the country. Zurich is a city of commercial tradition, placed in the middle of the European axis, first city of Switzerland by its population. The city owes its wealth to its universities, its banks, its industrial fabric, based on its sense of economic initiative and its ability to integrate populations of diverse origins. On the intellectual level, it has an international influence. Bern is a more conservative city, linked to the administration, rooted in its cultural traditions, however, it also brings together a cultured and open elite. From the beginning of the 1960s, Bern occupied quite an important place from the point of view of contemporary art, its Kunsthalle had an international aura under the audacious and avant-garde direction of Harald Szeemann, Johannes Gachnang or Jean-Hubert Martin who succeeded each other at its head. Also at this time, the local art scene was lively, with a new generation of artists such as Markus Raetz, Balthasard Burkhardt and Franz Gertsch. Johannes Gachnang or Jean-Hubert Martin who succeeded each other at its head. Also at this time, the local art scene was lively, with a new generation of artists such as Markus Raetz, Balthasard Burkhardt and Franz Gertsch. Johannes Gachnang or Jean-Hubert Martin who succeeded each other at its head. Also at this time, the local art scene was lively, with a new generation of artists such as Markus Raetz, Balthasard Burkhardt and Franz Gertsch.
In 1988, in a few months, in these two very close but really different cities, the career of Erik Bulatov will begin. In January, at the recently created Kunsthalle Zurich, a very young collaborator, Claudia Jolles, obtains the possibility of organizing the first personal exhibition of a virtually unknown Russian artist: Bulatov! On this date, he is 55 years old! A few months later, at the Kunstmuseum in Bern, a large collective exhibition «Ich lebe-Ich sehe» (the eponymous title of a painting by Bulatov which will also serve as the emblem of the event) opens, which brings together Russian artists «non- conformists”.
Paul Jolles, at that time was Secretary of State for the Economy, he was a brilliant man, very influential politically (it is said of him that he was the 8th Federal Councilor…). Due to his official duties, he is often in Moscow, economic affairs between the two countries, at this time, are very centralized. Paul Jolles is also a curious and knowledgeable collector. He is necessarily interested in the culture and art of the countries he visits. In Moscow, he discovered non-conformist artists, in his eyes much more alive and fascinating than the representatives of official Soviet art.
Not only does he take an interest in them as a collector, sometimes helping them financially, but he will also use his influence. He is the father of the young curator of the Kunsthalle in Zurich and he proposed to the director of the Kunstmuseum in Bern, Hans Christoph von Tavel, to organize a collective exhibition in his institution. At that time, to organize such demonstrations, not only required support or agreements at a certain level in the Soviet Union, but also a favorable political “climate” or in any case, relatively permissive.
Until the beginning of the 1980s, the Soviet authorities were more than reluctant to let the works of artists they considered unworthy of representing Soviet culture be exhibited and exported. But on this date, the USSR was at a historic turning point and the central power had other priorities than preventing the release of despised artists and works. Swiss institutions obtain the necessary authorizations. Both exhibitions are super important, both are “firsts”. Their impact is international. That of Bern will mark the careers of several participating artists, in particular those of Kabakov or Vasiliev. For Bulatov as well, but his personal fame had begun a few months earlier: he will always speak of the Zurich exhibition as the most important of his entire career! For him,
History then accelerated. 1989 marks the fall of the Berlin Wall and the opening of borders.
The specific political dimension of the exhibitions in Zurich and Bern. their reception.
The exhibitions in Zurich and Bern were conceived in a precise political and historical context: East-West relations and tensions, antagonistic economic and ideological relations. Of course Western “support” for the critical dimension of non-conformism could not be called “disinterested”. The term “non-conformist” did not cover a precise artistic practice, it was not a constituted movement. This name, which I will describe as summary and fairly broad in its acceptance, allowed a fairly quick classification, it quickly also became a fairly effective “marketing” argument. When visiting the Bern exhibition, facing the works, it was obvious that the artists did not belong to a formally linked group! Moreover, this belated discovery and the “support” of the Western world for a few “non-conformist” artists nevertheless made it possible to highlight artists of prime importance (Kabakov, Bulatov). But initially, this grouping could also, in part, create a reductive misunderstanding. Bulatov is not a polemicist or an activist at all!
The painted work of Erik Bulatov numbers only three hundred paintings. This modest figure is due to the artist’s demand for quality and precision, intensity and intention. Practically each canvas is preceded by drawings, each one being a research, a variant of the subject studied, all the possibilities are tried, verified, they are attempts to approach the inner vision of the artist, both a systematic research, sensitive and intuitive. If we quickly skim over the painted subjects, Bulatov’s “iconography” includes three recurring elements: landscapes (sky, nature, urban view), portraits and the use of words. These elements can be either distinct, a landscape or a single word, or «associated» in the table in interaction / presence. Bulatov can move formally from abstraction to figuration.
But I believe that what was objectively the mark of recognition of Bulatov’s work is the particular, singular use of words (and typography) in the painting, this was, in my opinion, a fundamental formal and conceptual discovery. . Totally new! The use of letters or words in the painting is not recent: the cubists, the dadaists had also used it very freely in painting and collages at the beginning of the century. In the graphic arts, the letter and the words, by their very typography (their character!), by their size, by their location are constituent elements of advertising and propaganda. The posters, in particular those of the railways of the early days of the Soviet era, left a lasting mark on the young artist. Formally,
In advertising, the letter and the word intervene graphically on the surface of the support. With Bulatov, the word and its reality, the word and the context are the painting. The word is not on the painting, it is in the painting, it is the body and meaning of the painting, it belongs to the image. In the «sky-sea» painting, we see simultaneously a representation of the sky and the sea as well as the two written words, these «covering» the part they designate. The representation of reality and the written words “stated” are absolutely inseparable (we see, we read and pronounce at the same time), one is not more important or real than the others! The represented landscape is one with its statement / its stated reality, the relationship of the two elements (representation-words), the visual and conceptual game draws the viewer’s gaze and mind into the space of the painting. This formal proposal is absolutely original and singular. Visual poetry is born from the meeting and the interweaving of the two elements.
As a reminder, in the representation of the landscapes alone, Bulatov makes reference and homage to a great tradition of painting by perpetuating and re-enacting it. By analysing and integrating the forms of painting of his time (pop art or abstraction among others) and by re-inventing them formally with his particular, singular and original «use» of words, by re-investing them, by redefining the aim of the painting, Bulatov is an important creator who is fully in line with modernity.
Bulatov uses perspective. Most of his paintings are of human size, with a preference for the square format of 2 m by 2 m. The painting therefore has a human dimension, the size of a body (you have to see him handling his large canvases alone in his studio, refusing any help!). According to Richter “Ein Bild sollte nicht mehr grösser als ein Bett sein” (A painting should not be bigger than a bed). Bulatov has made it his credo. The painting can contain us! According to his belief and his will, the painting offers a space that does not stop at its surface. Bulatov is a master of perspective, it opens up an unlimited imaginary space that stands outside material and temporal contingencies. At the same time, perspective literally brings us back to our “point of view”, literally and figuratively! At a time, the painting reminds us of our physical location, anchored in reality, but also allows us to access a mental and philosophical dimension. The painting is an interface between two worlds, the limited and constrained reality and an infinite space of freedom, that of our mind.
Les oeuvres de Bulatov touchent, concernent, j’en suis convaincu, tout un chacun au-delà de l’origine culturelle, sociale ou géographique. Comme tout bon artiste, il réussit à inclure dans ses toiles, des idées, des sensations, des éléments de vie. Bulatov a commencé à créer en Union soviétique, puis en Occident. Dans ses peintures, certaines références géographiques, politiques, sociales ont certes évolué, changé parfois en fonction des contextes, mais la recherche constante de liberté, cette exigence et cette quête sont exactement les mêmes ! Pour Bulatov, mais aussi pour tout spectateur sensible à la peinture, indépendamment de la langue et de la culture d’origine. Bulatov s’inscrit certainement de manière précise et incontournable dans l’histoire de l’art russe, mais son travail dépasse les frontières, de par sa qualité, de par son intention, de par son expression, il nous parle de questions que chacun de nous, humain, peut ressentir. Tout en témoignant du moment et du lieu où il est fait. Pour un peintre comme Bulatov, la recherche de lumière et de l’espace est certainement une quête philosophique. Dans ce sens, je dirais que le travail de Bulatov est vraiment ambitieux : témoigner de son temps en visant l’intemporalité ! Ou selon la formule résumée de Goethe, créer une oeuvre « maintenant et pour toujours ».
Who is artistically close to Bulatov?
Again, I don’t know, but I would tend to say that for any great artist, another great artist is necessarily a kind of close friend! Often, beyond questions of ego, artists recognize each other. If you ask the question to Erik Bulatov, he will certainly tell you about Oleg Vasiliev, friend and fellow traveller and worker during the Soviet years. Erik has always loved and respected Vasiliev’s work, saying that it was, for him, one of the most important in 20th century Russian painting. Erik Bulatov and Oleg Vasiliev are fundamentally painters. Obsessed with questions of light and space.
If we look superficially, there is an obvious formal coincidence between the work of Ed Ruscha and that of Bulatov. The two, practically at the same time, tens of thousands of kilometres apart, living in totally opposite political, cultural and economic systems, both produced canvases using vanishing points, letters in perspective, juxtaposing words and elements of reality! The two men do not know each other, they have never met and were totally unaware of their respective work. At the end of the 1980s, through their fame and the reproductions of images that circulated, the two men became aware of the existence of each other. I know that Bulatov, when discovering Ruscha’s work, was amazed and very interested. And totally respectful. I think I can say that the feelings were mutual. The proof is: a few years ago, with a German gallery owner representing Ruscha, we tried to organize an exhibition that would show the similarities and differences between the two men. This project, unfortunately not yet completed, had the agreement of the two artists. This exhibition remains to be done!”
Written by: Pierre-Henri Jaccaud,”Skopia” Gallery, Geneva
