Postmodernism as a Factor of Psychological Health
No. 5, February 2003
The president of the “Farmako” campaign, Andrey Bereznyakov, does not just collect works of art. He is one of the very few Ukrainian collectors whose interest is contemporary art – modern, postmodern, conceptual art.
Moreover, representatives of this art, who are very demanding of the consumer of their creativity, recognize Bereznyakov’s collection as one of the most complete and interesting.
When last year Mr. Bereznyakov acted as one of the organizers of the sensational Kyiv exhibition of Alexander Roitburd “Crucified Buddha,” art experts who encountered the merchant’s collection even expressed the idea of creating a museum of contemporary art based on it. Moreover, in the case of Andrey Bereznyakov, private interest developed into a business ideology. As one of the leading suppliers of pharmaceutical products in Ukraine, his company supports contemporary art within the framework of the program
“for the physical and psychological health of the Ukrainian nation.”
Where does your desire to collect works of art, and specifically contemporary art, come from?
– Probably from my family, from my parents. My father was very seriously interested in art and collected a wonderful home library. I grew up surrounded by books, art albums, and most importantly, I already had favorite artists since childhood. I actually started acquiring artworks later. It happened somewhat unnoticed – I bought a few paintings and felt that living with them was normal and natural for me. Then, when their number began to increase, completely different feelings came – I realized that I had very serious feelings for some works. I think these feelings are familiar to every collector, regardless of the subject of collecting – you enter into a relationship known only to you, in my case this happened with favorite paintings. Probably from that moment my hobby turned into a real passion – I acquired new favorite artists – representatives of contemporary art.
When forming your collection, do you consult experts?
– No, although I regret not having met an authoritative consultant at the very beginning. Later, it was no longer necessary for me. Of course, I listen to the opinions of critics and artists during communication with them. But I still rely on my own taste and my feelings from the work I see.
You see, I believe that a collector is a person who acquires something exclusively for himself, it is very personal. In my case, it is when you start to feel emotions towards a painting, you live with it, enjoy it, then rest, and return to it again. If this is not the case, then it is no longer about collecting but about capital investment, satisfying one’s own ambitions, and the like. For me, art is not a commodity, although sometimes it is a conscious investment opportunity in the name of an artist who, in my opinion, for a number of objective and subjective reasons, is insufficiently revealed and in demand in Ukraine.
Hence arises the desire to promote the artists closest to me, to pull them out of a sluggish state in the national cultural context. It is pleasant when my vision coincides with the assessment of professionals. I was very glad to see the project of Alexander Roitburd, one of the artists in my collection and the current director of the M. Gelman Gallery in Kyiv, in Harald Szeemann’s curatorial pavilion at the Venice Biennale. It is pleasant not because it supposedly confirms my one hundred percent hit, the bet on a person who is really marked by regalia, that I made the right choice. It is pleasant only for the artist whose name received deserved recognition.
In your home and office, there are completely different works, so to speak, postmodernism for private use, much more classical non-figurative for public use. Why?
– The office is the office, it is work. I treat office artworks as part of the work interior. Different people come here and specifically for business, not to relax or have fun. The works in the office must be adapted to working conditions. More decorative, not too emotionally impactful, not shocking. Not distracting from the work process itself. But the presence of contemporary art in the offices of large companies is good form in the civilized world. Unfortunately, this is not widespread here.
However, the trend is that the number of Ukrainian companies and banks that have their own collections or simply exhibit contemporary art in their offices will increase. We are currently at the level of development where maintaining art collections and collecting is the prerogative either of large banks and corporations or those people who really feel the need and take painting seriously.
There is also the matter of prestige.
– Yes. People who come to the West to large business partners see that rather strange art is presented there from the point of view of a not very sophisticated person. And they are forced to adopt this way of presenting their company to be perceived as civilized and adequate.
What advice can you give to entrepreneurs who have already realized the need to form a collection of contemporary art at least for reasons of prestige?
– Do not immediately buy many paintings, visit galleries and seek advice from contemporary art curators. This is very important – a good curator, unlike, say, a gallery owner, does not offer to buy works of “their” artists represented in the gallery. The curator helps to understand what is closer to the buyer, to form a vision of the future collection, he can introduce the future owner to different works, directions in painting, different artists.
Probably, you should also pay attention to the collections of Western partners, Western museums of contemporary art and gradually start adopting the experience. Start with the question of prestige, image, even your own PR. And subsequently, really interesting collections may be formed this way.
Which artists are represented in your collection?
– The most valuable for me are Arsen Savadov, Alexander Hnylytsky, Vasily Tsagolov, Maxim Mamsikov, Alexander Roitburd, Ilya Chichkan. These are the authors on whose works my collection is actually built.
You are one of the few collectors in Ukraine who does not treat their collection like a miserly knight. What guides you when you agree to exhibit works belonging to you?
– Naturally, I treat my collection with care and always specify the conditions for exhibiting works in a particular museum. But I am driven by the desire for the works of bright Ukrainian artists to be seen by as many people as possible. In the case of Roitburd’s exhibition, my company was even one of the project organizers. It turned out to be interesting and useful for representatives of the Ukrainian business elite, the political establishment, who simply need to be aware of progressive, relevant, and in-demand contemporary art worldwide. Having seen such art, to which perhaps not everyone is accustomed, these people still begin to realize that Ukraine has enormous talents. Our art does not end with folk art and realism. It has a continuation as adequate to modernity as the art of developed Western countries. It is very important that people see this precisely in Ukraine, in Kyiv. Because outside our country there is a serious attitude towards Ukrainian contemporary art. Such names as Kabakov, Savadov, Roitburd, Kulik, Hnylytsky are recognizable outside Ukraine.
In the ideology of the “Farmako” company, the concept of “health” has a global modern meaning. Without false modesty, I can say that we have achieved serious results in ensuring the physical health of the nation and have matured to support initiatives aimed at improving its psychological, moral, and intellectual health. And contemporary art is the best medicine for post-totalitarian societies during their transition to civilized values.Link
