Nicholas II, Act II Painting

Fed Barkoff is a contemporary Russian artist who believes that painting is not dead yet. He asserts that a canvas with the depicted image, alongside the written word, will remain one of the most important invariants of human culture for years to come – retransmitting stray reflections that define epochal spirits; connecting centuries and generations. Direct, intimate address to the spectator out of the white fabric rectangle will maintain the power of its impact and will hold the ground against any new technology, will be the essential basis in a space of any sort of realities inconceivable today. Following the manner of Leonardo da Vinci, Mr. Barkoff propagates a polymathic approach in his artistic journey and has been intuitively developing creative mastery in fields of different nature. At first an engineer, he then received a traditional art education at Moscow State Stroganov Academy. Active participating in the nascent protest movement at the end of the 00s (Dissenters' Marches); street performance activism side by side with the political street-art group Voina; experiments with video art (triple participation in special Cine Fantom programme at Moscow International Film Festival); unrestrained immersion in the Chinese language and culture for a few years; delving into Venetian mosaics; sizing up his own Russia from the saddle of an old Soviet scooter… Each cycle of self-discovery circles back at his two-by-four studio on the eastern fringes of Moscow, where, after he pays off his perennial utility debts, Mr. Barkoff changes a light bulb, installs an easel and directly talks to his spectator from 25 thousand years from now – to you. // in Russian // Федор Барков – современный российский художник, который верит, что время живописи еще не прошло. Он считает, что холст с изображенным на нем образом, как и печатное слово, будет еще долго оставаться одним из базовых инвариантов человеческой культуры, ретранслируя характерные своему времени блуждающие рефлексии, связывая века и поколения. Простое интимное обращение автора к зрителю через белый прямоугольник полотна сохранит силу своего воздействия, выстоит в схватке с новыми технологиями, будет базисом в пространстве любых непомышляемых сегодня реальностей. Проповедуя вслед за Леонардо да Винчи полематический подход к своему творческому пути, Федор Барков на разных его этапах интуитивно развивает художественные компетенции различной природы.