Brigada Painting

The work being the first one of the series introduces the men on whom the project is based: characters Kosmos, Pchela, Phil, and Beliy(from left to right) from the iconic Russian series The Law of Lawless, which was produced in the early 2000s portrayed the way to the criminal setting the group of young men experienced in the 1990s. Shown on federal broadcasting, the Law of Lawless had an immense success among the audience of post-soviet citizens and contributed to the idolization of the criminal world, relying on the nostalgia the public had towards the last decade and multiple cultural references of popular music, the majority knew by heart, outfits, everyone in Russia would own at the time, cars, everyone wanted to possess, and the settings of old apartments, musty alleyways, lavishly decorated restaurants, and livid markets full of “chelnoki” familiar to anyone who was born in post-soviet space. In the painting, the characters meet the viewer’s gaze, expressing either suspicion towards him or indifference; they almost blend with the background of blurry panelki and each other, similar to how the photograph turns out if the hands taking it are shaky, or how the one’s memory portrays the long forgotten moment. The combination of delicate details in the characters’ faces and clothes contrasts with wide strokes blending it all together, as inspired by Gerard Richter’s series Baader Meinhof, adds to the narrative of the fading past present in the series and makes the work more visually captivating.

Painting:Acrylic on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:30 W x 24 H x 1 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.