The Valentine Ryabov Gallery

Short autobiography:

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I was born in 1928 in Moscow, grew up in Leningrad and in 1941 faced the war there. In 1945 I entered the Moscow Higher Art — and Industry School (the former Stroganovskoe) the department of monumental sculpture. For 8 year I failed to understand, what my teachers wanted from me. Then I stewed and ripened in the creative team: Lemport-Sidur-Silis. For 15 years I have been working in the field of monumental sculpture together with them. However, I have not achieved much in this genre.

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Hope came in 1962 — I made my first independent work in wood carving. From this time on I have considered myself a sculptor.

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The main thing for me in sculpture is a form. Form alone can create an artist's image. Texture, material, dimentions — all these are just attributes. Sementic and topical loading opresses the form. However I do not exiude a pure head solution of form.

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I never name my sculptures, unless I have to, paying a tribute of tradition. Sometimes I do it ohen it is neccesary somehow to define my work. I qualify a viewer to do this, for he is in some way a co-auther, and he also needs some freedom of associations of ideas.