Государственный Русский музей (альманах) Zaripov is a unique phenomenon. Although rarely, one does come across artists who profoundly and unselfishly adopt outside creative influences. Within our Russian culture there has been Alexander Benois with his peaceful aesthetics of the World of Art which avoided strong passions. But Zaripov lives through his passions. It is clear that, like Marina Tsvetaeva, he pours his feelings, vision and love into all things, which in turn resonate with his own will to form. And this is what is hard to understand: does his plastic instinct find expression in the artistic will of the collector? Or does the collector"s will become the bearer of an untameable creative spirit, which spawns his wonderful canvases, his powerful forms of texture and colour, and his incredibly alluring house-museum of contemporary art? This museum is painted so clearly with the artist"s personality and in it he is both the owner and someone you can talk to as an equal. This explosion of integrity is...