«Ryazan Sheet» newspaper, No. 199(4747), 23 of October, 2014 of P. 4. B/w illustrations. Article "Visible radiation. The Ryazan artist Alexey Akindinov finished work on a large-scale picture "Chernobyl. Last day of Pripyat". Russia.

At the beginning of October Alexey Akindinov finished work on a picture "Chernobyl. The last day of Pripyat", the devoted Chernobyl accident. On creation of work at the artist two years left. The display of a picture planned by the next anniversary of accident was postponed for fall because of uniqueness and scale of work: the plot of a cloth consists of nearly hundred thousand small ornaments.

Work on a picture was preceded by the volume period of studying of material: viewing of documentary movies, archives, conversation with eyewitnesses of accident and relatives of liquidators. In the beginning Alexey made the detailed pencil sketch, many times changing and specifying in it composite details.

The subject of a cloth unites in itself some plots from accident elimination events. The central part – the moment of the begun fire after explosion of the reactor. The right part – mother with the baby on hands. Behind a window, at the horizon, – nuclear power plant some hours prior to explosion. The left lower part of a picture displays events of later time – miners at the time of digging of a tunnel under the damaged reactor.

In the foreground – the generalized image of the liquidator of accident, it can be both the military, and health worker, and the ordinary citizen who decided on assistance despite danger of death. His naked torso symbolizes vulnerability, fragility of the human life put on fight against a radioactive flame.

The subject of the Chernobyl accident excited the author long ago. Alexey set for himself the task to transfer an ornamentalizm, globality and danger of nuclear catastrophe in his style. To express it not only at the expense of the subject decision, but also by means of a combination of signs and symbols which fill with themselves all space of a picture.

Favourite the artist ornamental motive "snowflake" gets special sense in a picture – their contours remind wings of butterflies, and figures of liquidators of accident as if turn in the moths flying towards to nuclear fire.

Many snowflakes are broken, their hopelessness on death is emphasized also that they are capable to live in a nuclear scorching heat only a moment. Alexey by means of paints tried to transfer this transience of life of liquidators in the picture.

The author wanted to show the self-sacrificing, yet not sung by painters feat of the people of the different nationalities which rallied for elimination of consequences of the largest technogenic catastrophe of the XX century which can be an example for imitation and counteraction of present dissociation and to the conflicts between the people of the former USSR today.

The artist plans to expose a picture in various Russian and foreign museums and galleries. The first will be able to estimate "Chernobyl. The last day of Pripyat" the Ryazan audience at the reporting regional art «Fall-2014» exhibition. The exhibition takes place in Showroom of the Ryazan office of UAR to the address: Yesenin St., 112. The exposition will work about a month.

Olga Anisimova.

The original of the text on the site of the «Ryazan Sheet» newspaper here (the text in Russian)>>>

The archived version (the text in Russian) here >>>

Article about the autumn Regional exhibition "Fall 2014", and about Alexey Akindinov's picture "Chernobyl. The last day of Pripyat" on the newspaper site here (the text in Russian)>>>

The archived version (the text in Russian) here >>>