Conceptualism

Mikhail Allenov at Garage. Imaverbagination, or Viktor Pivovarov's conceptualism

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• published: 29 Apr 2016
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Public program accompanying Victor Pivovarov's exhibition The Snail's Trail. A lecture by Mikhail Allenov. Imaverbagination, or Viktor Pivovarov's conceptualism. In conceptual art, and specifically in the practice of Moscow Conceptualist Viktor Pivovarov, what is most important: image or word? Art historian Mikhail Allenov discussed this question in his lecture at Garage. Birds flew down to peck at the grapes painted by ancient Greek artist Zeuxis, but human behavior is determined by our skill, ability, or talent to distinguish things from their images. Representation is image conceived in some invisible virtual space, yet manifested in reality. A word inscribed into a painting complicates it, making it look like a board, a poster, a thing, objectifying the field of pictorial convention. In conceptualist practice, the aesthetic and plastic qualities of a board come together for the representational revelation of a canvas, liberated from the inertia of traditional painting. A board is a type of “open form,” i.e. an image open to word, and a word open to image, where both act as companions, as it were. But still, there is a question: which one is the cause, and which is the effect? Is it a board that primarily represents specific figurative compositions—or, rather, a board that carries verbal messages of text? Mikhail Allenov is Doctor of Philosophy, professor, and researcher in the history department of Moscow State University, and an expert in the history of Russian art. His scientific interests include Russian art of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and are reflected in his 12 monographs on the practices of Alexander Ivanov, Konstantin Bryullov, Mikhail Vrubel, Pavel Fedotov, and Vassily Surikov, among others, as well as general surveys of the history of Russian art. He has published a total of 61 scientific papers. A participant of many local and international conferences, his works have been translated and published in French, Italian, German, and other languages. Mikhail Allenov has contributed to a number of exhibitions, including Moscow: Treasures and Traditions (Seattle and Washington, D.C., 1990) and Michail Wrubel, der russische Symbolist (Duesseldorf, 1997).