The False Sign 1989

Vasiliy Ryabchenko made "The False Sign", with paint on canvas, in a style that feels raw and intentionally unfinished. I can almost feel him layering the paint, scraping back, and then layering again. Looking at this painting, I wonder what Ryabchenko was thinking. There's a figure riding what looks like a unicorn, but it's not quite right—the unicorn seems awkward. Maybe he's trying to show us that things aren't always what they seem. The pale green background and the muted tones give the scene a dreamlike quality, like a half-remembered myth. It reminds me of Picasso, but with a folk art twist. You can see how the artist let the paint do its thing, embracing imperfection and celebrating the messy, unpredictable nature of creating. Like all artists, Ryabchenko is in conversation with the past, reinterpreting old stories and making them new. It's painting as an open-ended investigation, with room for doubt, uncertainty, and multiple meanings.