Conceptual artist and co-founder of TZVETNIK, Vitaly Bezpalov, creates work that he describes himself as “a little frightening, sometimes repulsive, bloody and incomprehensible”. Vitaly lives and works in Moscow where he will be showing his work during a solo exhibition at the ISSMAG gallery later this month. As for his creative platform TZVETNIK, Vitaly co-founded the company with Natalya Serkova in order to house a place for people to share, learn and exhibit art virtually. The idea of virtual art is something that Vitaly talks about during his chat with Coeval. Read on to hear more from the artist himself.

What sparked off your creative path within the arts?

My path was formed by anger and irritation. When I started doing art in Russia, the school of conceptualism was still strong and against the background of growing Instagram and YouTube, blog of DIS collective etc. It seemed to be a monstrous anachronism. I wanted to do things that would be synchronous with time and using contemporary contexts rather than burrow myself into the language games.

You are based in Moscow - how does the city influence you as an artist?

First of all, Moscow is affected by its distance from other world capitals. This creates a lot of difficulties for international work. Getting somewhere is always very expensive, as well as transporting the works. On the other hand, Moscow is a huge city with a frantic rhythm and activity, which doesn’t allow you to relax and instead encourages you to work a lot, change constantly and invent new ways to communicate with the world.

How would you personally depict the characteristics of your work?

I would describe my work as a little frightening, sometimes repulsive, bloody and incomprehensible. I would like to think so because the subjects I try to work with are not always the simplest and most comfortable.

You are a co-founder of TZVETNIK - tell us the concept behind this platform?

TZVETNIK was conceived by Natalya Serkova and myself as a place where people from all over the world could see art without its geographical and institutions binding. Where young professionals can get to know each other, communicate and establish professional networking, as well as discover new names and places. Today this is both a platform and a community where you can learn about the most interesting, unusual and energetic projects while staying at home and not physically visiting a particular city or venue.

What projects are you currently working on?

I am currently working on several projects that have been shifted several times due to COVID-19. In October I’m having a solo show at ISSMAG gallery in Moscow, and a few projects are planned in Europe by the end of the year. In addition, I am engaged in preparatory work for the film. It will be a rather gloomy abstract horror about a man trying to escape from the reality around him.

You are also part of an upcoming exhibition called ‘Ghosthouse’ - what can we expect to see from this display?

It will be rather an eerie project that will open for Halloween. I can’t reveal the details but judging by the line-up of the artists, which the talented Anna Weile Kjær has gathered, you can understand how cool that’s going to be! On my part there will be a performance - continuation of last year's project 'Salt Seller' in the Money gallery, Moscow.

Where do you see the future of the art industry due to the effects of COVID-19?

The art industry is very different, and despite the fact that it seems that the virus and occasional lockdowns are with us for a long time. I think that overall at this stage little will change. Undoubtedly, large institutions will have to look for new solutions and offer visitors safer ways to see art, but in general everything will continue as it is now, I think.

Nevertheless, new forms of art and ways of representing it are already beginning to appear in the most avant-garde circles. I also look closely at the film industry. There are dozens of ways to create worlds against the background of chromakey, as well as different ways of producing images without their physical existence. Perhaps there is something for art and maybe, if imagine, some day art will be created in enclosed spaces with the help of computers, photographers etc, and will exist for the viewers only online.