Philosophical and satirical paintings about contemporary Russian realities by artist Andrey Shatilov

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Nowadays, paintings filled with true deep philosophical meaning are quite rare. Therefore, works of authorship Russian artist Andrey Shatilov arouse genuine interest in the modern viewer. His canvases are, first of all,. They are filled with deep content that does not always lie on the surface. Sometimes you need to think deeply to understand its intention. We also offer you to get in touch with the life philosophy of the master.

Andrey Shatilov - the founder of realistic sursymbolism

Analyzing the artist's work, he can rightfully be called the founder of his own special style - realistic sursymbolism, saturated with caustic criticism. That is why it has become unique for contemporary visual arts. His original author's paintings with a unique idea and fate are striking in their elaboration and deep meaning.

The artist, who has chosen a difficult creative path for himself, is an adherent of classical values and modern life priorities. In almost every work he masterfully combines contemporary sharp themes with classical painting techniques, not forgetting to use his own artistic style. The works of Andrey Shatilov's brush are extraordinarily emotional, unique in their technique of execution. Each painting is a challenge framed by this painter's unique talent.

So what does the artist write about, what is he trying to convey to the viewer? His canvases are literally saturated with satire, impartial and caustic. With all his creativity, Shatilov gives an opinion on the diseases of our society, namely, the consumer attitude to life, the hypocrisy of officials, the inner constraint of “ordinary”, “little” people, trying to fit this into the concept of the “truth” of life, which is always relevant. The only question is that it is different for everyone.

In the center of the artist's work is Man, his feelings, thoughts, troubles, joys. But the main thing is its dignity. Could this ever be out of date?

It is also worth noting that his paintings are not only incredibly relevant, but also monumental significant, they breathe classical pomp, which allows them to approach the generally recognized world masterpieces of fine painting. When viewing the works of the master, many people associate with the work of Geliy Korzhev, an artist of the era of socialist realism, who was one of the few whose legacy has survived to this day almost in its original form (this is at a time when most of the works of the socialist realists went to the landfill). Korzhev possessed an amazing gift of vision and was able to masterfully convey in one gesture, in facial expression, what a whole generation was thinking about.

You will learn more about this extraordinary artist from our publication: The artist of the Russian misfortune and his unique free realism with the prefix "SOTS".

About the artist Shatilov

Artist Andrey Shatilov was born in 1987 in the city of Akhtubinsk. From an early age he was fond of drawing and music, and as a teenager he already knew for sure that he would become an artist. In his school years, after graduating from art school, Andrei decided to continue his studies at the Astrakhan Art School named after I. P. A. Vlasov at the Department of Design, which he graduated with honors. Then there was the Institute of Art Education of the Volgograd Pedagogical University, specializing in "Book Graphics".

It was during his student years that he began to form as a professional artist. And it was within the walls of this educational institution that his first personal exhibition was successfully held.

And it all started with the first large painting "Requiem", which in 2008 was acquired by the Novosibirsk Museum of Funeral Culture. Then the first plot work "The Pianist" was written, which gave rise to the idea to write several more pictures on musical themes. Shatilov, who in his youth was seriously fond of music, was close in spirit to the inner world of musicians and their emotions. So, following the "pianist" such canvases as "Heavenly Drummer", "Cast Iron March", "Trumpeter", "Muse" were born, which made up the main part of the first personal exhibition within the walls of the VGSPU.

Since then, the creative credo of the young painter has firmly established itself - to paint pictures about people and for people with an ideological meaning, filled with their own unique drama, and not sugary landscapes and still lifes.

In 2010, the works "Portrait of Bunin" and "The Last Days of Forester Mitrofan" took 2nd place in the category "Portrait" at the international painting competition dedicated to the 140th anniversary of IA Bunin. The aspiring artist was rewarded with a trip to Stockholm. From the same year, Andrei Shatilov became a member of the Creative Union of Professional Artists.

This first success inspired the painter to create new paintings so much that already in 2011 the first big "personal" took place, at which about 30 large paintings, created in 2 years of creative activity, were presented. Since then and to this day Andrei Shatilov, being a constant participant in numerous all-Russian and international exhibitions, competitions and festivals, has repeatedly become a laureate of international and regional painting competitions. His best works are in private collections of domestic and foreign collectors.

A stunning sight. It hurts and hard to face the truth …

New APP. ART technique from Andrey Shatilov

The artist Andrei Shatilov, as an extremely creative person, still does not stop there, he is looking for new pictorial forms and means for himself. And not so long ago, the innovation of this unique author was clearly manifested in another interesting technique of fine art, which he invented, developed and implemented. Meet - APP. ART!

The essence of this pictorial approach is that the image is not drawn with paint, but glued from pieces of magazines and newspapers, namely from text fragments, which creates a kind of pictorial mosaic effect. The artist has a series of works, where the author combines oil painting and applique, forming a pictorial surface.

The exposition includes more than 30 canvases made in this technique, including portraits of the legendary four "Beatles", Marilyn Monroe, Sergei Shnurov, Mao, Ronaldo, Yuri Gagarin and even the President of Russia.

We invite you to evaluate the new original technique of the master.

However, Andrei Shatilov's Familiar Faces are not only famous characters from the covers of magazines. These are also the people who surround us here and now. Turning to pop culture, the artist places additional semantic accents and makes the viewer think. This is precisely the main value of the paintings of this extraordinary artist.

And, continuing the story started about the Soviet-era artist Geliy Korzhev, read our publication: Why the famous socialist realist Geliy Korzhev began to paint Turkic mutants and paintings on biblical motives.