Mountainous Landscape 

Curator: This expressive work is titled “Mountainous Landscape” by Alexis Gritchenko. Though undated, it exemplifies Gritchenko’s post-impressionist style. Editor: My first impression is of raw, almost violent energy. Look at the way the oil paint has been applied so thickly; it's impastoed in short strokes that create a restless surface. The paint is practically fighting itself! Curator: Indeed. Notice how the landscape elements—mountains, vegetation—aren’t depicted realistically. Instead, Gritchenko seems interested in conveying their essence, their force. It's as though he’s trying to get to the underlying spirit of the mountains through abstraction. Editor: And how he used color contributes so much. Look at the pink bleeding into those mountain peaks, against the brooding greys. I wonder, what kind of pigments were available to Gritchenko? And what were his working conditions like when creating such pieces? Did he face any shortages or disruptions in accessing painting materials? I bet understanding the socioeconomic context would reveal new aspects about what looks like raw landscape to me. Curator: Intriguing points. It calls to mind an investigation into how the cultural symbolism of mountains, and of the "natural", took a violent turn in European history through the period, in response to industrialisation. I think that maybe Gritchenko offers us a vision that responds to our contemporary landscape, one still impacted by industrial production. Editor: I find myself coming back to his impasto technique, I want to feel how thickly applied those oil paints are. Knowing what's in it–the source and supply of those oil paints –might ground the abstraction of that form a little for me. Curator: For me, the "form" that the artist arrives at already embodies this tension between the natural world and what it symbolically conveys. What we’re left with is Gritchenko’s landscape, forever teetering between representation and feeling. Editor: True. And this reminds us of all of the material labor embedded in what we call 'nature'. I'm really starting to look past my own initial view, now.