Page 10 - Making Books

These three publications show the three main subjects mystical activities. ‘It is the new idea that makes the
in art that would characterize Goppe ever after: poetry, poet, even if it doesn’t rhyme,’ is one of his favourite
love, and sculpture. sayings, which might have been inspirational for Viktor
Goppe. In the second decade, typographic elements
Painting as a field of art is almost non-existent in the as well as less conventional materials, such as x-ray
work of Goppe. Instead, an important element in his films or discarded photographs and advertisements,
oeuvre are graphics, such as the posters and cards he are characteristic for the development of Goppe’s art.
designed during these years for exhibitions and oth- The curved lines become more angular and the illustra-
er artistic activities in the youth centre for the Avant- tions show a radiance that is definitely reminiscent of
Garde: the bar Picasso in Kineshma. His own account constructivism. The three subjects defined in the first
of this period can be read on the flyleaves of this very decade of Goppe’s work as a publisher, remain the
catalogue. They show a world that had to redefine itself. same, although poetry is now really ranking at the top.
The taste and artistic development in the first years af-
ter the fall of the Soviet Union were years behind with Although it is not over yet, the third decade of Goppe
the West. In the first five years of this decade, Goppe as an artist comprises the years in which he intensifies
made several publications in cooperation with the artist the expressivity of his books and sculptures. Goppe’s
Aleksandr Shirshov. He was still involved in the cultural art becomes more complex and the bond between
life of Kineshma, and published two almanacs dedicat- text and expression becomes deeper. The message
ed to ‘Kineshma Culture’. In the second half, from 1996 of his art is growing more onerous for the spectator
onwards, Goppe published the first books with under- as it increasingly incorporates links to the history of
ground poets such as Konstantin Kedrov and Genrikh Russian art. He is a clever man who wants to show
Sapgir. His illustrations often show doll-like figures, his art and abilities in the best and broadest possible
which are reminiscent of popular Russian wooden toys way. He might be rather diplomatic in staging his art,
which he placed in an estranged environment while do- but he can be stubborn and will not yield to ideas that
ing ‘naughty’ things. The lines are curved and seldom he did not incorporate in his thoughts or conceptions.
straight or rectangular. The space is rarely left open Sometimes he is funny and sometimes he is critical in
and if colour is used, it is mostly in greenish or brown- his pictorial language. In his art, he isn’t single-minded
ish shades. In general, they give a rather crowded im- nor solitary-minded. He often works with other artists in
pression in a narrative pictorial language. creating books, always in a beneficial way that adds to
the creativity of all parties involved. He creates his own
How many books Goppe published in the second world of art that is hard to assign to specific styles or
decade of his life as an artist (2000-2010) we do not conventions. His illustrations remain narrative, seldom
know, but being an industrious worker, their numbers conceptual or theoretical and never abstract. He is an
must be large. The art of the book in this decade grows artist of the tale. A poetic tale or an erotic tale, but al-
and ripens away from the narrative. More conceptual ways a tale to enjoy, to laugh at, or to contemplate. He
and constructive elements become visible. Book and is a prominent example of a Russian artist of the book
cover constructions become freer and more elaborate who develops his own pictorial language as he knows
and the content is often of Goppe’s own invention. In best. He uses the images of his youth and adds only
2008, for example, he published his own ‘The periodi- those elements that he likes or knows how to incorpo-
cal system of poetical elements’ in which he tried to rate into his own art, whether these are from art of the
designate each poet to a fitting cell in the system. It is past or from contemporary art. In his recent works he
quite a funny and inventive system, in which Aleksandr is expanding the use of collage-technique, but, more
Pushkin is designated to the cell of oxygen and Vladimir interestingly, he has discovered the serial properties of
Maiakovskii to that of Radium. The poet Igor Kholin is the comic book. As can be seen from the last item in
Iron, Genrikh Sapgir is Silver, while his friend, the poet, this catalogue (cat. 159) he used a series of conse-
essayist and Brecht critic Vladimir Klimov was Iodine. quential images on index-cards which is an allusion to
Iodine is, as we all know, a colourful substance that the comic book, but also strongly reminds of the series
hurts a lot but cleans the wounds. Maybe that is why of index-cards with verses that Lev Rubinshtein made
Goppe designated Klimov to this cell of the system, in the 1980s (see cat. 86 and 100).
because he was colourful, hurt a lot, but was healing.
Goppe not only published Klimov’s poems, but also two Viktor Goppe Making Books shows a way of life that
albums with Klimov’s drawings. Klimov’s poetical work fits extremely well in the very interesting and flowering
is defined by his ideas about social interactions, which world of ‘the artists and the book’ in Russia, which can
not only include poetry or art but also recreational and stand as an example to the rest of the world.

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