Пляж 1970

Vasiliy Ryabchenko's "Пляж" is an ocean of soft blues, executed with a playful openness to process. The colour palette is restrained, with the barest hint of warm tones. It's like memory itself, softened and hazy. Up close, the materiality of the painting is striking. See how Ryabchenko uses thin washes of paint, allowing the texture of the surface to peek through? The brushstrokes are loose, gestural, almost scribbled in places. Those dark linear shapes looping around in the upper left, they're so free, so unburdened by representation. They remind me of Cy Twombly's poetic scrawls, or maybe even some of Joan Miró’s biomorphic forms. Like them, Ryabchenko isn't interested in capturing a literal scene, it's more about evoking a feeling, an atmosphere. A sense of place, yes, but also a sense of being. Art isn’t about answers, it’s about the ongoing conversation.