Successful Novosibirsk businessman Anton Suprun survived a stroke in 2019. The recovery was not easy. Art therapy came to the rescue. Unexpectedly for himself, Anton discovered the talent of a painter. Gradually, fame came to the artist: exhibitions in Russia and abroad, prizes, diplomas of the laureate of prestigious competitions… How could a difficult life situation not break a person, but, on the contrary, help him reveal new facets of his talent? How does an innovator and inventor (Anton has many patents in various fields) find his way in art? Artem Genkin talked with the artist in absentia.
– History of your family has always been connected with Novosibirsk? What city, what place on Earth do you consider native?
– The history of my family was not connected with Novosibirsk at all. It was associated with the city of Lyubertsy, Moscow Region. In Novosibirsk, I ended up being sent after graduating from the Serpukhov Military Command Engineering School of Strategic Missile Forces.
Moscow is more dear to me. I went to college there. I went to first grade.
– How did the hobby of aircraft modeling come to you?
– Quite spontaneously. There was nothing to do with friends in the yard, so we came to the Palace of Pioneers. There was just an enrollment in the circle of aircraft modellers. It was in the city of Vladikavkaz. Now Vladikavkaz, formerly Ordzhonikidze, is the capital of North Ossetia.
– They say inventive talent is transmitted genetically. Is it your case too?
– Apparently yes. My great-grandfather was a well-known master, an engineer at the Ukhtomsky agricultural engineering plant in the city of Lyubertsy.
And my father was also a military engineer.
– I had the same diagnosis as you at the age of 31. Much later, having survived, returning to normal life, I began to notice that there are many of us living in added time. Do you think people with such a fate have something in common? What unites us all – I mean “such” ones?
– We are united primarily by the basic reflex to survival. As well as resourcefulness to find these ways of survival.
– What happened when your business was developing at full speed, and the commander “left the saddle for the first time,” with your enterprise, with people, with contracts?
– At first there was, of course, a certain confusion in the heads. But then, gradually, thanks to my wife, who was always with me, was my right hand, we were able to get out of the turbulence.
– Did you blame anyone for what happened to you then? “Why me?” – was it?
– No, I didn’t blame anyone. I mean, I took what’s going on for granted. If it was sent to me from above, then I have to go through it – that’s all.
– At the beginning of creativity after a stroke – did you set yourself a clear goal? What was it like? Becoming a successful artist? Achieving professional skill? Distracting from the pain?
– The goal was to understand the material, tools, canvases, brushes, and paints. Just to try. Most of my first works – they are just completely improvisational, made in search, in experiment.
– Those who knew you in the past life – stayed with you in the new one?
– Yes, mostly they did.
– Are you celebrating your second birthday? Do you think that someone added you a life term, gave you a second chance?
– Yes, I think so.
Second birthday? Yes, I celebrate it, together with the whole country. May 1st.
– Have books saved you? What books? Did you have an idol in these books that you admired and followed?
– Yes, Bulgakov – “The Master and Margarita.” It’s one book.
Master – because he accepts his fate.
– Do you feel (or have you felt) yourself an amateur, an impostor among artists who have received a classical education in the specialized field?
– Yes, I feel, of course. I burst into the environment breaking stereotypes. Perhaps, I sat on the wrong row in the stalls, but I feel comfortable there.
– Is there a community of artists? What is it like? Is this a friendly family, a guild of professionals, a group of like-minded people? Are you in it – or next to it? Or, maybe, in the art world, is everyone alone?
– Frankly, I don’t see a community of artists. I only see individual smears in the general space. However, mainly from what I know, or from conversations that I have heard or read about in the comments, one gets the feeling that many who are painting today are striving to commercialize it. They teach each other and so on. It’s not interesting to me. I know other avenues for commerce. In creativity, I have other goals. To begin with, I want to master the skill as much as possible.
– What was the most memorable review of your work?
– My exhibition was touring the Golden Ring of Russia. And in Ryazan, one boy wrote: “Just COOL! Denis.”
– Your wife is a full participant in your creative process, a muse and a character in several of your paintings. What picture with her participation has not yet been created by you, but is already approaching, requires you to write it? If, of course, there is such one…
– Yes, there are such pictures, they are planned. However, so far I am not ready to talk about them so directly. The right moment has not yet come for them to come true.
– You are a happy man. No matter what. Life has entrusted you to play many roles. Successful businessman. Inventor. Happy husband. Established artist. A man who overcame physical weakness and literally reached for the stars. According to the Hamburg account, which of these hypostases turned out to be the most important for you, where do you think you have most fully realized yourself?
– I feel most fully realized in my family. We have children, and a grandson. We all support each other. In this, I believe that the great merit of this belongs both me and Lyudmila.