“Urban tablecloth”

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Den/The Day two and a half years ago graphic artist Pavlo Makov and designer Lilia Pustovit created a stylish “club kerchief.” Our partners, authors, and readers immediately took notice of the kerchief and appreciated it. But creative work does not mean separate ideas, it is an integral process when one idea gives way to another one, develops it, and becomes a new stage in the work. In the tandem Pustovit-Makov the idea of creation tablecloths and serviettes of Italian linen became this kind of stage. Pavlo Makov offered the engravings and Lilia Pustovit did the rest. As always, the result was simple, stylish, and artistically esthetic.

Pavlo MAKOV, graphic artist:

“Along with the topic of my gardens I have worked for several years on the topic of tablecloths. It exists since approximately 2005. The tablecloths have been successfully exhibited and sold at Sotheby Auction. How are my ideas born? There’s no special way. Two years ago Lilia created her collection of outfits with the help of my works. Later I told her, ‘Lilia, it would be good to create tablecloths as well.’ And we have succeeded. My engravings are used as the groundwork: singing and sitting nightingales. Since they have been used on my big tablecloths and on Lilia’s collection of outfits, we only had to print them on canvas. I gave Lilia an opportunity to apply my works.

“All samples are currently part of someone’s collections. There are not many of them, 10 pieces. One continues to hang in Lilia Pustovit’s studio. Frankly speaking, I haven’t seen any of them. Recently Lilia has offered me to take one as a present for my wife. She once inquired about the size of the big table in our summer cottage. As far as I understand, she prepared one of them for us: Lilia is a friend of my wife. Speaking about technology, the material is printed on the cloth before something is sewn of it. It was printed in Italy. It remains a mystery for me, because I work with paper, not cloth. I am very glad that something has come out of it. I think there is a sense in making this kind of tablecloths at order, because they will be expensive, and nobody will stand in line en masse, for the process of tablecloth production is so expensive that if we sell it for 200-300 dollars, it will be unprofitable.”

Lilia PUSTOVIT, designer:

“One of Pavlo Makov’s works is called Urban Tablecloth (2009). Besides, he does not create any more works in this series, and we are ‘reviving’ the artwork of the genius artist and, so to say, make it available to the masses. For far from everyone can afford to buy Pavlo Makov’s pictures. However, buying several serviettes with a print of a beautiful work is pleasant and accessible to any connoisseur of contemporary art and design. We have two ranges of colors: a warmer vintage sepia and modern harsh black and gray tone. Apart from that, Pavlo has three or four works in the series ‘Utopia’ and several pictures in the ‘Tablecloth’ series, and we are gradually putting them into production. We produce serviettes and tablecloths of high-quality linen applying on it digital prints which we make in Italy. So the item will serve for a long time. And the price will depend on the size and number of offers. So far we have made several samples which we will offer to stores.”