OREANDA-NEWS. January 21, 2009. VTB Bank will present in Davos an art project named “Between the Lines”. Around twenty paintings by Russian artists Alena Kirtsova, Nikolai Nasedkin and Konstantin Batynkov will be exhibited in the Congress hall from January 28 to February 1, reported the press-centre of VTB.

Works chosen for the project were created by renowned masters of modern art, who participated in numerous exhibitions in Russia, Europe and North America.

The exhibition comprises the works of the three painters ranging in style and concept. Nikolai Nasedkin’s paintings express the spirit of postindustrial culture and are painted with crude oil. The works by Alena Kirtsova are associated with Russian avant-garde and abstractionism, and Konstantin Batynkov shows the complexity of human daily life facing the contemporary urban reality.

As Andrei Tolstoi, supervisor of this art project, notes, its name (“Between the Lines”) correlates with the World Economic Forum slogan “Connecting the dots”. “We chose the name, because the artists participating follow a certain line both in general orientation of their art and principles of composition. Essentially, modern Russian art searches “between the lines” for meanings important for painters and their contemporaries”, he commented.

As Vasily Titov, Deputy Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board, said, “the Bank is proactively supporting Russian art, including that representing the world of today. This time we present diverse contemporary painting, which is a conduit of world realia as reliable as economic news reports. We believe that “Between the Lines” project supports the overall sentiments of the forum participants, who in the current situation are ready to look at the world economic system from a new perspective”.

For reference:
Alena Kirtsova (born in 1954) is a painter, author of non-figurative and minimalist cycles, and cofounder of the Utopia fund. Her works are kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Zimmerly Museum of Rutgers University, New Jersey; and private collections. Alena has participated in numerous group and personal exhibitions in Russia, Europe and the USA. Kirtsova’s paintings are minimalist in artistic language, but provoke abundant associations. The effect is maximized if the works are seen in the original boasting rich texture and subtle nuances of color relations.

Konstantin Batynkov (born in 1959) is a painter and graphic artist, formerly of the Mit’ki artistic group, author of series and cycles of paintings and graphic pictures: Another life, Don Quixote, Of War, Forest, Moscow, Children, Bulldozers, Marina; Mom, I love a pilot; Drawings on Envelopes, Forgotten masterpieces, etc. His works are kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Modern Art Museum, as well as other museums, galleries and private collections in Russia, Luxembourg, Austria, France and other European countries, and the USA.

Nikolai Nasedkin (born in 1954) is one of the greatest masters of post-soviet expressionism, member to the Moscow Union of Artists since 1985 and participant of exhibitions since 1982. His works are presented in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Nikolai Nasedkin was one of the first artists to use crude oil. According to art critics Nasedkin’s experiments with color may be rooted in Russian folklore.