During the month of November 2007, The Ronald Reagan Building Trade Center hosted an exhibition of the works of the renowned Belarusian artist Kastus Kachan. The Belarusian Embassy and the organization Global Arts Network conducted the exhibit.
Kastus Kachan is, first and foremost, an artist who celebrates the beauty of his small homeland. He was born in 1950, in the hamlet of Lavirshevo in the Grodnenskaya oblast. In 1975, Kachan graduated from Belarus State University. His work has been displayed at art exhibitions since 1980. His paintings are primarily landscape scenes. His work is on display in the National Art Museum of Belarus, the Fund BSH, the Russian Ministry of Culture, The Museum of Contemporary Graphic Art in Minsk, The Belarusian Museum of National Architecture, many Russian museums, and private collections in various countries.
Dazzled by the beauty of the Navagrudak district, Kastus Kachan through his artistic talent has given the Belarusian audience, indeed the world, a collection of paintings that evoke the viewer’s response. In recent years, Kachan has experimented with a variety of techniques and methods, which have served to create his distinct artistic style. His work displays great freedom in presenting the real world. His vision has been aided immensely by his frequent visits to neighboring European countries. Often his travels involve presenting his work or participating in international open-air exhibitions. Kachan also regularly visits other artists who work in various styles and mediums. This vast experience has given Kachan a firm foundation for piercing through the challenges that have always intrigued him.
The image of his native land is Kachan’s inspiration. His canvases feature wide, open spaces that are not cluttered. He does, however, achieve wonderful texture in his works through oil paints. This glorious mix of space and texture display the depth of the artist’s emotion. It also provides the unmistakable mark of an exceptional artist.
Understanding nature has allowed Kachan to create in this series of endless landscapes a harmonious panorama, which manifests a spiritual link between man and nature. It is the human being in Kachan’s paintings that produces a pivotal moment for the viewer. At first glance, his figures seem somewhat sketchy and artistically unfinished, but their presence frequently evokes the feeling that this wonderful unity between man and nature may be lost in the process of urbanization.
Nevertheless, it is obvious that Kachan’s muse is nature. He is clearly fascinated, even enchanted, by the beauty of the changing seasons, an event so conspicuous in Belarus due to its geographic location. There are snowy fields in winter; then the land is covered with water during the spring floods. Next, the golden color of ripe grains in the summer yields to nature’s climax with the majestic hues of autumn.
Kachan is in his prime artistically. His paintings exhibit maturity together with innovation. His is eagerly anticipating and actively searching for new discoveries and inspiration that other artists and art lovers have yet to experience.
Kachan’s work will be on display at the Belarusian Embassy in Washington until June 2008.