Boldyrev Gennadi

The sculpture is not photogenic: three-dimensional, turning into two-dimensional, loses the lion’s share of expressiveness. But even in such a simplified state, the works of sculptor Gennady Boldyrev can stand up for themselves. They don’t need the art of photography because they are art themselves. Independent and, at the same time, closely related to the environment. His works do not argue with the interior or architecture. On the contrary, they confirm and emphasize what the architect intended, and sometimes they replenish what he wanted to make up for. Boldyrev easily reads other people’s ideas without sacrificing his own, so he is good to work with. But not only for this reason. The sculptor, who graduated first from the Penza Art School and then from the Kharkov Art Institute, prefers metal, but works brilliantly with any material, from wood to stone. He equally respects the modern and the folk, but he does not accept clichés. His strength is nontrivial solutions to trivial issues, so he takes on things that others cannot do. And he succeeds. Gennady’s portfolio includes complex objects for restoration and completely unique works, portraits of people and animal figures, furnishings and author’s sculptures. He is certainly not a man of genre. But he is a man of quality, which cannot be achieved by mastery alone. He is an artist who turns everything he touches into art, both literally and figuratively. Modest, demanding of himself, condescending to others and not too voluble. His sculptures speak for him – in a complex language, nevertheless understandable to everyone, from the most unsophisticated buyer to the most erudite art historian. (Natalia Shustrova, art critic, editor-in-chief of the architectural portal “Forma”)