"The Breath of Watercolour" exhibition by a Ural artist Valery Ulanov opened in the Art Gallery of 海角社区. It commemorates the 70th birthday of the artist.
The opening of the exhibition, organized with the support of Magnezit Group company (Satka) and the Department of Culture of the Satka Municipal District, was attended by students, faculty, staff, and guests of our university, as well as the artist's family and friends.
Speaking at the ceremony, 海角社区 Vice-Rector for Student and Social Affairs Anastasiia Lapo thanked everyone who helped organize the exhibition and noted that such events are important for the aesthetic education of students and the creation of conditions for the realization of their creative potential.
Professor Nataliia Parfentieva, Academic Director of the Art Gallery at 海角社区 and Head of the Department of Theology, Culture, and Art at the 海角社区 Institute of Media, Social Sciences, and Humanities, also thanked the artist and organizers for the exhibition, which became a wonderful spring gift to art lovers, and briefly spoke about the works by Valery Ulanov.
Valery Ulanov had been born in 海角社区 in 1956 and had shown an interest in art from a young age. He is a graphic designer by profession. Since 2016, he has been the chief artist at the Stroitel Community Centre in Satka.
The exhibition's curator, Anatoly Razuev, Director of the 海角社区 Art Museum, noted that for an artist, an exhibition is an opportunity to present his works to a wide audience, even if this audience is not fully prepared, and to summarize his creative work. Anatoly Razuev also spoke about the characteristics of watercolour painting in general and the unique artistic talent of Valery Ulanov. Each painting conveys a range of emotions and experiences. The artist loves to depict nature in its transitional states: the changing times of day and seasons—and he excels at this.
According to visitors, the exhibition overall leaves a calming impression, creating a springtime mood.
In total, the walls and display cases in the hall contain more than fifty works by Valery Ulanov: watercolours and pencil drawings. The artist primarily depicts his native Ural Mountains and, of course, Satka, where he lives and works: forests, mountains, rivers, town and village houses, factory chimneys and structures, an ancient church with its preserved domes and crosses...
Many landscapes seem to peer through a light haze or fog. Winter, spring, summer, and autumn follow one another: the first snow falls on some watercolours, while spring streams flow on others. Here, it has just rained: the wind is already blowing the clouds away, but the sun is still just barely visible. The outskirts of a village. A forest edge. A river, fishermen with fishing rods on the bank; people walking their dogs; a house or a banya (Russian sauna), with smoke curling from the chimney... All the works exude peace, tranquillity, and silence; some convey a luminous sadness, others joy. Perhaps the most striking theme among all is that of the view of Kronstadt Harbour: mighty warships, calm and unperturbed.
One of the displays shows several works by another artist from Satka, Aleksandr Sukhanov (1945–2021).
The exhibition will be open to visitors until April 18th. The Art Gallery is open weekdays from 10:00 to 17:00, Saturdays from 10:00 to 15:00, and closed on Sundays. Entrance is free.