The path to abstraction through the mode of design thinking: artistic experiments by Veniamin Stepanov

Abstract

The article touches upon the subject of one of the options for the formation of modernist abstract and gravitating towards abstraction forms of creativity. Considering the approaches and nature of the activities of one of the most interesting artists of Sverdlovsk/Yekaterinburg, Veniamin Stepanov, the author draws parallels between aesthetic preferences, the nature of his artistic vision in the field of design, monumental and decorative art, graphics and easel sculpture. Formed during the period of transformation of approaches in artistic creativity, the penetration of global trends in the field of art into the country, the artist found himself, among other things, by virtue of his character, at the forefront of the resurgent system of design education and creativity. A unique combination of design, structural thinking, the power of perception inherent in monumental artists, a great sense of material and inner freedom allowed Veniamin Stepanov to be in the field of new, sought-after, and still relevant art throughout his creative path. Consideration on equal terms of various spheres of artistic activity - design, which is often generally taken out of the artistic field, sculpture, graphics, allows us to define them as a single component that formed an original and versatile artist.