In his video "Pokrov", the artist Yury Vasiliev creates a feeling of a special interior plan. In this plan, the Internal and External elements are combined into a contradictory visual image. The Internal elements act as "melancholic" in general and "metaphysically". The External elements, monotonously concentrated, come to light through the broad strokes of aching vibration. This kind of mournful veil of Russian life is obsessed and anguished, collective and animal, and maybe it is he who responds to the artist's perception and his subconscious knowledge of „the Russian“ as deafened and overcrowded, no matter whether it is the pointlessness of one's own efforts, the aimlessness of actions, or wandering in space. Such communal harassment can only dream of clarity – but this clarity is hidden somewhere away from the essence, the presence of which we only latently feel. The only thing we have – the state of powerless strictness, being in the grip of God or elements.

Dmitry Bulatov  (translation: Inna Humeniuk)

Note: Pokrov is the name of the feast of the Mother of God celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches. The feast celebrates the protection afforded the faithful through the intercessions of the Mother of God.

Yuri Vassiliev's central themes are the Russian winter and the Russian Avantgarde colour red. He approaches both of them on a symbolic level. Humans, often as solitary figures and not recognizable as  individuals, totter disorientated now here, now there, forming snowballs or being pelted with them or even rolling an enormous snowball, doggedly, with enormous expenditure of effort like in this video. The protagonists are exposed to the perils of nature in the videos in existential ways, their doings appearing pointless and cut out of time. 
The video artist undestands how to masterfully transpose the scenes using a sophisticated cutting technique, into the realm of universal human experience. His compositions set up bridges between the eye of the camera and the eye of the spectator and allow us to perceive what we see on a physical level.

Andrea Domesle  (translation: Christopher Haley Simpson)

--- RUS

Васильев «Покров»

В своем проекте автор создает ощущение особого нутряного плана, где внутреннее и внешнее объединяется в противоречивый визуальный образ. Внутреннее при этом выступает как «тоскливое» вообще и тоскливое «метафизически», а внешнее, монотонно-сосредоточенное, дано широкими мазками щемящего колебания. Этот своеобразный заунывный покров русской жизни одержим и надрывен, коллективен и животен, и может быть, именно он отвечает ощущению художника и его подсознательному знанию русского как оглушенного и переполненного, – не важно, беспредметностью ли собственных усилий, бесцельностью действий или блужданием в пространстве. Такая общинная маета может только грезить о ясности – но эта ясность укрыта где-то в отдалении от сути, присутствие которой мы лишь подспудно чуем. Нам остается только охваченность состоянием, бытие во власти Бога или стихии. 

Дмитрий Булатов

   --- Präsentationshinweise

Unter dem Titel “Last Next Winter” waren vier Videos, Format 4:3, 1-Kanal, gruppiert, zusammengestellt von der Kuratorin Andrea Domesle. Die Videos haben eine Soundspur, werden auf den eBoards jedoch ohne Ton gezeigt, so dass die Basler Stadtgeräusche ausnahmsweise den Sound bilden:
- „Last Next Winter“, 2011, 4.40 Min.
- „Pokrov“ (Cover) 2011, 4.40 Min.
- „Russian Red White“, 2009, 2 Min.
- „The One Following Me“, 2006, 3 Min. (nur auf den eBoards des Congress Center Basel)

01.06. – 06.08.2017  wurden die Videos mit einigen Ausnahmen täglich zwischen anderen Infos des eBoard Congress Center Basel, Messeplatz 21 beim Swissôtel Le Plaza und zudem ab Juli auf den eBoards der City Lounge gezeigt sowie 01.06. – 18.06.2017 täglich im GLOBUS Basel-Schaufenster am Marktplatz 2 von 8 bis 24 Uhr.

v ideocity.bs freute sich sehr, dem Basler Publikum eine Schweizer Premiere bieten zu können. Yuri Vassiliev gehört zu den wichtigsten russischen Videokünstlern und war hier noch nie zu sehen. Unter dem Titel “Last Next Winter” vereint videocity.bs vier seiner Videos auf den 
eBoards des Congress Center Basel sowie in der Mediathek der HGK FHNW  und drei seiner Videos in einem Schaufenster von GLOBUS Basel.  Die Gesamtgestaltung dieses Schaufensters übernahm das Dekorationsteam des Warenhauses.

Gleichzeitig widmet das National Centre of Contemporary Art in Moskau Yuri Vassiliev die Einzelausstellung „Common Russian Red“ vom 7. Juni bis 16. Juli, die hiermit wärmstens empfohlen wird. 
See http://www.ncca.ru/events.text?filial=2&id=4156

--- Notes on Presentation

Under the title of “Last Next Winter” four videos are brought together, format 4:3, 1-canal, grouped by the curator Andrea Domesle. The videos have a soundtrack, but during videocity.bs they are however shown without sound on the eBoards, so that the Basel city sounds for once provide their unique sound track:
- “The One Following Me”, 2006, 3 mins. (not shown in the GLOBUS Basel display window)
- “Russian Red White”, 2009, 2 mins.
- “Last Next Winter”, 2011, 4.40 mins.
- “Pokrov” (Cover) 2011, 4.40 mins.

videocity.bs is pleased to be presenting the Basel public with a Swiss premiere again. Yuri Vassiliev is numbered among the most important Russian video artists of today but has never so far been presented here in person before. Under the title of “Last Next Winter” three of his video works are brought together in the GLOBUS Basel display window and four videos on the eBoards of the Congress Center Basel and on the screen of the Media Library FHNW..

Simultaneously the National Centre of Contemporary Art in Moscow is dedicating a solo exhibition “Common Russian Red” to Yuri Vassiliev, which we would like here to highly recommend. It is on view from June 7 to July 16.
See http://www.ncca.ru/events.text?filial=2&id=4156

https://readymag.com/sobornost/russianred/