"Gene Modified" and "Fashionable Gay". Memorable paintings by Nikolai Kopeikin that are deeper than they seem at first glance.

Nikolai Kopeykin (born 1966) is a Russian primitivist artist who is a member of the creative group Witch Artists, and was once a prominent figure of the St. Petersburg underground. He not only paints pictures - and very successfully at that, some of them are represented in the Russian Museum, Tretyakov Gallery and Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art - but also plays in the ironic rock band NOM and even had a hand as a film director on NOMfilm studio films such as “Paseka”, “Belorusskaya Byl”, “Zvezdniy Vors” and others.

Gene Modified

In his work, Kopeykin professes the principles of “multrealism”, which all “witch artists” follow. According to them, it is not the artistic component or the perfected technique that is important, but the meaning contained in the work.

Knight at the Crossroads

Kopeykin's paintings are usually ironic and mocking, up to hard sarcasm and satire, and the style of primitivism is best suited to display the ideas contained in them.

Catch

In the opinion of the witch artists and, in particular, Kopeikin himself, it is important “not to charm but to disappoint the viewer, to uncharm him and allow him to see the world in its true state of affairs, without the false illusions that our officials and propagandists are so fond of. We have organized our own sect “Witch Artists”, where all the members are non-professionals, without special artistic education. We believe that professionalism in our artistic endeavor is a real evil that must be fought.

Fashionable gay, hammer a nail

Of course, not everyone has to blaze new trails in art; some prefer to follow the good paved road, write “as they should” and get good royalties for it. Many of our critics are naive and ridiculous in their arrogant snobbery: I graduated from an art academy, and who are you? But what academy did Socrates and Aristotle graduate from?”.

Very unpleasant men

By the way, in Kopeikin's opinion, political correctness in art is also unnecessary, as it hinders free creativity. Art should not depend on censorship, and those who ban exhibitions or are even ready to send unwanted artists to prison are themselves committing a real crime. It is only creativity that makes us human, and to ban it is to go against humanity.

Guardian of thoughts

Kopeykin has a lot of ideas for paintings, but how they appear, he can not explain: “it's a kind of magic, no creator can not really tell how he gets an idea, it just happens and that's it, but still not enough time to realize them”.

Carlson is back

However, despite his workload and criticism from some “responsible comrades,” Kopeikin considers himself a completely happy person, although he admits that happiness is illusory, and it is difficult to understand and explain what it is, and it is certainly too individual; there are no clear criteria: “You have a Mercedes and a high-paying job, which means you are happy.”

We are seeing dad off

However, there are folk remedies to create this illusion of happiness, and alcohol is the most effective of them. Kopeykin has a positive attitude to alcohol, but he considers himself not an alcoholic, but a mental drunkard: he drinks only on occasion in the company of friends and does not hangover.

Kashchei

Alcohol affects creativity - sometimes when drunk during a merry feast, interesting ideas are born, such as the creation of the movie “Geopolypes”. Then he was sitting with friends on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and accidentally saw a piece of iron that looked very much like a UFO, as it is presented in sci-fi movies, and it was off and running: soon the script was born, and then the movie itself.

Vasek Trubachev and his friends

But to draw drunk, like Mitki, Kopeykin never tried: “it is necessary to distinguish between business and leisure, and drinking at work, like driving - absolutely inadmissible.

The reeds rustled

Kopeykin has pages in social networks and generally believes that the Internet is a powerful crutch for aspiring artists. The easiest way to make yourself known on the Internet. “Few art galleries roll out the red carpet, especially if we're talking about artists, non-formal, without special education, who, despite everything, have something to say. Then the Internet becomes a great launching pad. However, it is very difficult for artists to earn money on the Internet, usually everyone wants to download and watch their work for free. And although I don't complain much about material wealth, the main income I get is from exhibitions and selling paintings.

My mirror, my light, tell me

However, Kopeykin has long since established himself as a serious primitivist artist, for whom the idea is more important than some purely technical nuances. And he has plenty of ideas - to the delight of all of us.

Buy handmade goods or modern art you can on artAlebrio - is an international marketplace for people who want to create, sell, buy and collect unique items and art - buy the best with us artAlebrio.com.