The works of the artist Valentin Gubarev are known all over the world. The style of his paintings is ironic art. His works are widely recognized in Europe - paintings occupy a worthy place in the collections of connoisseurs of the genre of naive painting.
Biography
Valentin Gubarev was born in Nizhny Novgorod after the war (in 1948). He successfully graduated from high school and entered the Moscow Polygraphic Institute. After marrying his family, he moved to live in Minsk. Here he worked in a book publishing company as an illustrator and artist.
The unusual manner of drawing Valentin Gubarev manifested itself as a student. His cartoons reflected an unusual look at the surrounding reality. The "atypical" works of the artist Valentin Gubarev, as they were called by cultural figures in Soviet times, were unknown to anyone for a long time. In the mid-90s, luck turned to Gubarev.
He received a call from France and was asked to organize an exhibition. It turns out that the French became interested in his paintings, which by chance they saw in one of the avenues. The paintings were exhibited in the prestigious Les Tournesols gallery, they immediately gained success.
Since then, the artist has been actively signing contracts with famous galleries in the USA, Germany, and Switzerland. His paintings are auctioned in England and France. Valentin Gubarev is a member of the Belarusian Union of Artists and is an honorary member of the Masterpiece art association in Germany.
Primitivism, or "naive" painting
Belarusian artist Valentin Gubarev creates works of art filled with incredible attractive power and charm. Everything is here: humor, irony, deep philosophy, sadness and simplicity. The artist created a special language "naive", allowing him to simply and freely interact with the viewer.
Gubarev creates in the style of primitivism. This allows him to depart from the usual norms and rules of painting. The main thing is to sincerely convey feelings, preserve the immediacy of the image. Despite the "primitivism" of the image, the master pays much attention to details. Passing by Gubarev’s paintings, I want to get inside, examine every detail, look into the courtyard, where old men play dominoes, women hang up their underwear, and the kids chase the dogs. Examining the paintings, I want to stop for a long time and enjoy the moments captured on the canvases, and involuntarily imagine yourself in the place of a character.
The plot and characters of the paintings
In his paintings, the artist Valentin Gubarev depicts scenes from the life of Soviet inhabitants in provincial cities. The canvases reflect the life, foundations and customs of the era of the USSR. Gubarev’s paintings are called everyday sketches, where you can see all the attributes and regalia of that time: wall carpets with deers, a guitar with a bow on the wall, canned goods in the cellar, a tear-off calendar, down pillows folded in a pyramid, polished furniture, a monument to grandfather Lenin, a street with water column and so on.
The characters on the canvases of the artist Valentin Gubarev are ordinary people who live their lives with all its hardships, sorrows and joys. The artist himself in an interview admitted that all of his characters are positive. He said that he loves them all and treats them with warmth and compassion. His characters are not poster characters, they are not always happy. Of course, in the image of the characters there is a caricature, but it is moderate. Gubarev's characters are not satirical, but a little naive. The artist’s favorite animal character is cats.
Paintings
The names of some paintings by the artist Valentin Gubarev are as follows:
- "The modest charm of undeveloped socialism."
- "200 watt bulb."
- "Red, fortified."
- "Holiday weekdays."
- "The second sign of chastity."
- "Homemade caramel casserole."
- "Angels love sausage."
- "Fish day."
- "Reviewer".
As we see, the artist uses humor in the names of his paintings. But behind each of them lies a complex cultural subtext.
The works of the artist Valentin Gubarev are simple and filled with warmth. For people who lived in Soviet times, they cause nostalgia, for young people - a pleasant surprise, for foreigners - delight and admiration. And absolutely all viewers of Gubarev’s paintings have a kind smile on their faces. Indeed, considering them, we are transferred to our youth and childhood, remember the past and experience only positive emotions.