Plastic Interpretations of the World Artistic Heritage in the Monotypes of Valery Babanov

Since his youth, Valery Babanov’s professional activity has been connected with the art of book design. He is a graphic artist, illustrator of classic and modern prose, poetry of domestic and foreign authors. The search for his own line in art revealed the proximity of his individual creative nature to the monotype technique. The history of the creative path of the outstanding master of prints E.S. Kruglikova, thanks to whose activity it was in St. Petersburg in the early twentieth century that the Russian school of monotype was born, had a great influence on his choice. Prominent Leningrad artists K.A. Kordobovsky, G.D. Epifanov, D.M. Plaksin became mentors in mastering the “pictorial” graphic printing technique. But an example of virtuoso artistry in working with monotype was K.I. Rudakov. A true fan of monotype in book illustration, Babanov strives to create subtle professional graphic works that reveal the essence of the literary work. Long practice has honed the techniques used by the artist in his work: the base — perfectly smooth plates of plexiglass of different sizes with slightly rounded edges, black paint layer, squirrel brushes, cotton paper. In addition to the visual interpretation of literary texts, the master actively works in easel graphics, in particular, realizing a project of plastic interpretations of the world’s artistic heritage. The artist’s solo exhibition “Striving for Perfection” (2020), which became the intermediate result of his activity, presented selected monotypes, in which Babanov reflects on the work of the great masters of painting, passing the history of art through his perception. A visual narrative of contemplation and plastic retelling of the legacy of the old masters and artists of the twentieth century — interpretation by means of monotype — in personal sensations there is a reflection of creative individuality, a fuller disclosure of natural identity. The more the artist understood, penetrated, felt the sample of copying, the more he presented himself. Turning to the past, V.V. Babanov continues to follow the eternal path of apprenticeship.

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