A simple story at the Garage Triennial of Contemporary Art: the friendship of two creators, the Russian painter of the Arctic Alexander Borisov (1866-1934) and the Nenets self-taught talent, the first artist of Novaya Zemlya, Tyko Vylka (1886-1960)

A simple story at the Garage Triennial of Contemporary Art: the friendship of two creators, the Russian painter of the Arctic Alexander Borisov (1866-1934) and the Nenets self-taught talent, the first artist of Novaya Zemlya, Tyko Vylka (1886-1960). Vylka learned to draw from a tear-off calendar left in his native parts by some polar explorer, and when he met professional artists, they were struck by the remarkable combination of naivety, skill and refinement. Noticed in his youth by Borisov and Stepan Pisakhov, Vylka was fortunate enough to find himself in Moscow with true masters, Abram Arkhipov and Vasily Perepletchikov, with whose help he turned his talent into his life's work and became a well-known artist. Writing and political activity followed; Ilya Konstantinovich Vylka even became President of Novaya Zemlya. The exhibition presents photographs, ethnographic materials, and paintings by both Vylka and Borisov.