EUROPE

2015

Projects

In the end of the 20th century, Russian artists were so hypnotized with the western world and concerned with the impression they make to such an extent that they could hardly produce their own image of Europe.

Meanwhile, the world tends to be multipolar, and Europe, as if fading away, seems to be more comprehensible. I look at Europe from Russia as if from outer space, with a superficial and, at the same time, interested eye, just as the European would look at the culture of Mongolia, Tibet or Kenya, for instance.

In my series of paintings, the image of Europe is a mosaic of separate traditional and modern motifs. Almost every motif presents Europe as an allegory. In the Vanitas, for instance, the spirit of death is standing behind the back of the nude old Europe. But there are other images too: Cronos, for instance, or Saturn devouring his own children – it is an allegory of time. Sometimes I rely on existing plots, like Goya’s The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. In my case, Europe is sitting surrounded by the evil spirits of power, wealth and war. Belgrade is bombed by NATO aircraft behind its back. My Queen of the Night is based on the composition of a graphic sheet from Los Caprichos series, the one with ghosts (We Shall Go with the Sunrise). Traditional motifs are entwined with modern ones – with Europe breastfeeding cloned Dolly sheep and Europe lighting the new EU stars.