A stranger's eyes cast new light on old, familiar surroundings

Russian artist's views of upper Columbia River and basin on display at Eastern's Brewster Hall

By JOHN McCALLUM

Editor

People in Cheney, Medical Lake and other parts of the West Plains have a unique opportunity to view their world not as they see it, but as someone from halfway around the world sees it – and sees if for the first time.

Eastern Washington University's International Programs is sponsoring an exhibit at Brewster Hall in downtown Cheney by Russian artist Gennady Ugryumov. Ugryumov's works were produced while he was a guest of former EWU vice provost John Vickery and his wife Darlene at the couple's house along the Columbia River near the town of Lincoln and the Hawk Creek area north and west of Davenport.

Vickery has been involved in bringing Russian artists to the United States, and particularly Eastern, since the late 1980s. He met Ugryumov, a freelance artist and member of the prestigious Russian Artist League, through relatives of another Russian artist and friend, Gennady Klyushin.

Vickery arranged for Ugrymov to come over last summer as part of an international arts exchange supported by the Centrum Foundation. Once here Ugrymov, who comes from Vesyegonsk in the Tver region of central Russia, showed he is at once a productive and perceptive artist.

“This guy is such a prolific painter. He can paint one of these in three hours,” Vickery said pointing to a painting last Wednesday.

The Vickery's took Ugrymov up and down the Columbia from Hawk Creek to Whitestone in their boat. Once, the artist asked they drop him off at a remote beach and when they returned he had produced a finished painting and had taken time to swim the river.

The Vickery's also took Ugrymov to many events and locations around the area, including the annual Colville Tribe powwow at Nespelem on July 4. Many of these are depicted in the works at Brewster.

Ugrymov is primarily a landscape painter, and his talent is evident, capturing the contrasts, depths of field, textures and colors of the region. Several of his works from along the Columbia are so lifelike one is almost tempted to plunge headlong into the picture.

“This guy does a beautiful job with water,” Vickery said.

Vickery went on to explain the importance of lighting in any piece of art. European paintings sometimes appear diffuse, almost as if they were painted in some kind of haze.

Works produced in the Americas can be bright, revealing, full of contrasts, colors and hues.

“Some artists when they come over here never get it right,” Vickery said. “This guy (Ugryumov), he got it right.”

Perhaps the most striking piece is a three-paneled work called “Children of the Big River.” The first panel depicts Whitestone surrounded and overlain with petroglyphs and other images, symbolizing the past. The middle panel symbolizes the present with scenes from the Colville's July celebration, capturing the colors and actions almost to the point where one can hear drums marking the dancer's cadence.

The third panel shows a young Native American girl floating in clouds above a winding river – the future. Vickery said what's remarkable about the work is that Ugryumov painted it in Russia after it came to him in a dream, and that the girl actually exists.

“She was picking up stones and giving them to my wife when we were at Nespelem,” he said. “He remembered that.”

The exhibit is currently financed through private funds, Vickery said, and is tentatively scheduled to be at Brewster Hall until mid-January. No grand opening or viewing hours are set yet because Vickery is still working with the university on a lease.

Private showings and tours are welcome though, and Vickery said arrangements could be made by calling him at 999-5502.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].