​Medieval Gynecological Examination and Customs Robbery. The Caustic Humor of Anatoly Kozelsky

Anatoly Kozelsky (born in 1964) is a contemporary artist who paints in a very distinctive style, reminiscent of something between graphic art for some cartoon or comic book set in a medieval fairy-tale fantasy universe and grotesque naivety, seasoned with a good dose of irony.

Mushroom picker's dream

But it was precisely this combination that turned out to be in demand, interesting and unusual, which in our time, when originality is valued above all else and one's own author's ideas are worth a lot. His paintings are somewhat reminiscent of single-panel comics, that is, in simpler terms, caricatures, but at the same time Kozelsky refused the speech bubbles with inscriptions, which some caricaturists use to disguise their inability to tell a story and reveal humor as laconically as possible, using only one image.

Women's Day

At the samovar

Piit

But at the same time, in terms of the level of drawing and overall detail, they are closer to the traditional works of primitive artists, for example, to the creations of Angela Jerich or Valentin Gubarev. However, the main thing here is not the perfect technique, but the creation of the right mood and the implementation of the artist's ideas in graphic form, which Kozelsky does very well.

City beach

Masks

Stopping Time

His paintings are a depiction of the inhabitants of a certain medieval European country: this is indicated by the traditional European architecture and clothing of the characters. Kozelsky unobtrusively makes fun of their ignorance, peculiar ideas about medicine, everyday life, often very unsettled, and the lust of the clergy.

Confession

Eclipse

There is a desire to amuse the viewer, but at the same time it is easy to draw parallels with some modern events and everyday troubles, which makes his drawings very attractive for illustrating some articles in magazines or on websites. Actually, this is what it was all about, after all, Kozelsky works mainly for the sake of earning money, although he admitted that creativity gives him a lot of pleasure, and therefore he considers himself lucky: he does what he loves, and even gets paid for it.

Separation

Fisherman

Sometimes Kozelsky sympathizes with his characters, as in the painting “The Fisherman,” but more often his works are rather harsh satire, and their heroes do not evoke any positive feelings.

Customs inspection

The Queen of the Ball, or the Main Course

Football

Well, really, is this what city beaches should be like, and customs inspection, according to Kozelsky, resembles a very brazen robbery, when those being inspected are left in their underwear.

Гинеколог

And the paintings "Gynecologist" or "Injection" could easily illustrate some article about our medicine, but not the usual correctly boastful one, but an honest one, if only they are published anywhere. The characters' peculiar faces also play on the satire, thanks to which they resemble alcoholics who have somehow come to their senses after a month-long binge. Sometimes this is appropriate, but critics note that such a one-sided depiction of all the characters in the paintings, even young girls, seems excessively grotesque.

Injection

Family Doctor

Bathhouse

However, Kozelsky's paintings cannot be called too gloomy either; they are very literary; the author depicts the culmination of a certain little fairy tale or parable, usually ironic and mocking, but sometimes childishly kind.

Educators

Perhaps because they belong to a different era, the characters in his paintings do not seem entirely repulsive; they are simply sons of their time and their own concepts of morality, which, nevertheless, turn out to be very relevant.

Aeronauts

Romantic dinner

Abstraction

And here a peculiar educational effect is already evident, as with any good satire: we look at these characters and involuntarily identify ourselves with them, although often we do not want to do this at all. But don’t some citizens at some corporate event resemble the drunkards depicted here, and the behavior of some vacationers in Turkey is quite identical to those same balloonists? And this is where Kozelsky’s work is especially relevant.

---

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.

We in social media

FB, Instagram