Fernando Botero’s another sculpture installed in Cascade has aroused strong feelings not only on social networks, but also in the press. The fatty lady who has stretched out and is smoking unconcernedly seems vulgar to some people, some people like her and some sculptors say that they would have sculpted a naked woman more beautifully.
Dorian, a young writer and blogger, expressed his confusion during a conversation with www.aravot.am whether our people didn’t have anything else to do.
“It is a beautiful, non-stereotypic statue. Frankly speaking, I try not to follow the Facebook ‘topic of the day’ and I don’t know what people don’t like about the statue. If they want to see things that are beautiful and appropriate exceptionally according to the majority’s perceptions, let them watch the Armenian television, everything suits only to the majority’s taste. The statue is probably not concerned about its rating; that is why it is real, animate and pretty (even according to the perceptions of few people who are also residents of Yerevan),” our interlocutor thinks this way.
Famous painter Shota Voskanyan who is known for his series of woman paintings is also surprised, “Botero is highly regarded in all countries and by all artists, as he is a good sculptor and a good painter, there is no doubt. Admittedly, he makes figures look a bit fattier, he sees them in width, as opposed to Modigliani who stretched them a bit, but anyway, that’s Botero – very unique, original and nice. I like all of his sculptures.” The painter thinks it is strange that statues are aggressively discussed and rebuked; he says it is a matter of taste, criticism is a necessary thing, but one must also sense beauty, “For example, someone sees beauty in thin models, someone else thinks that they are way too thin.”
Shota Voskanyan thinks that one shouldn’t compare or oppose statues to each other and he advises people who do that, particularly nonprofessionals, not to talk nonsense, particularly given the fact that Botero’s sculptures, besides being valuable artistically, are expensive.
He thinks that there are very good sculptures in our city; he specifically mentions Davit Yerevantsi’s pieces among them.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
