Mikhail Kamochkin - "Simple Plots"

The works presented at the exhibition were created in the period 2016-2024. Most of them were made using lithographic technique; unlike classical lithography, the printing form is made not on stone, but on textolite with a melamine coating, which makes it possible to print the edition on an etching press. The last 7 years have been devoted to the development of this technique.

The goals of creating these works are as follows:

1. First of all, we should talk about the author’s inner need for creativity, without which life is impossible. Art is an organic need. Graphics and painting are the methods that most fully meet this need. Works are created not so that someone will see them, but simply because they cannot not be created. The viewer becomes a voluntary or involuntary observer of this inner work.

2. Identification of technical methods and features of working with this type of print; during the creation of these sheets, a lot of interesting observations were made, a number of technologies were developed. Working with material is the most important element of creativity for the author.

3. The implementation of a huge number of sketches, drawings and pictures. All sheets, one way or another, are based on the study of nature, representing a synthesis of observations and flights of fancy.

4. Study of purely formal issues, such as composition, color, tone, the relationship of plastic masses, balance, etc. This aspect, along with technical aspects, is also of the utmost importance to the author. Content is understood primarily as the meaningfulness of form, i.e. form itself is meaningful and can say much more about itself than words. In this regard, the author pays great attention to working on sketches in order to make this form as expressive and sharp as possible. Here we can talk about an abstract understanding of art. Why does the author not move into non-objectivity? Because it is difficult to come up with anything more expressive and sharp than the world created by God, and the human figure is used as the richest object with the greatest plastic potential.

5. The next point is admiration for the world around us in its everyday manifestation, i.e., to put it simply, the expression “the amazing is nearby” perfectly matches the author’s worldview. In order to admire, you don’t need to go to exotic countries, fly somewhere, or even turn on the TV. It’s enough to ride the subway or go to a garbage dump to get the most interesting impressions. And you don’t even need to go anywhere: as Harms wrote, “you can lie down on the floor and look at the dust. There is inspiration in that too.”

Besides lithographic items, the exhibition also features monochrome woodcuts, which effectively contrast with the colour-rich sheets, and monotypes. The latter are improvisational in nature, usually created without sketches based on natural material.

Thus, the 39 sheets presented at the exhibition are the quintessence of the author’s intense, internal, daily work on understanding and creatively reworking images of beautiful everyday life.

Mikhail Vladimirovich Kamochkin, graphic artist, painter.