Nikita Sobolev. Designing images of the future society
One of the most important tasks of contemporary art is the creation of a new reality, that is, the direct action of the artist aimed
at changing the status quo (of the present time, established systems, social conventions). The most interesting contemporary artists are conscious producers of images of otherworldliness and various practices of approaching otherworldliness through conflict with reality (yes, dharma is drama). I am referring here to the immediate reality given to us in our daily sensations. And the more the artistic strategy for constructing images of future reality is worked out, the more interesting the artist is.
Nikita Sobolev (he/his) is a young ambitious digital artist living in Tbilisi. He has participated in various exhibitions in the UK, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia; he has received awards from various prestigious international competitions; and his works are kept in private collections in Europe and Asia. Nikita has developed his own unique interdisciplinary artistic language, which can be called
a mix of modern technologies, identity studies, the experience of emigration and the use of diverse symbolic and textural environments.
at changing the status quo (of the present time, established systems, social conventions). The most interesting contemporary artists are conscious producers of images of otherworldliness and various practices of approaching otherworldliness through conflict with reality (yes, dharma is drama). I am referring here to the immediate reality given to us in our daily sensations. And the more the artistic strategy for constructing images of future reality is worked out, the more interesting the artist is.
Nikita Sobolev (he/his) is a young ambitious digital artist living in Tbilisi. He has participated in various exhibitions in the UK, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia; he has received awards from various prestigious international competitions; and his works are kept in private collections in Europe and Asia. Nikita has developed his own unique interdisciplinary artistic language, which can be called
a mix of modern technologies, identity studies, the experience of emigration and the use of diverse symbolic and textural environments.
Also, Nikita Sobolev's artistic practise
is not alien to the use of purely performative and theatrical instruments; although he does not create performances, his works can be perceived as visual plays full of dynamics, intrigues, and internal collapses.
Probably, we will even be able to compare Sobolev's works with the classic performances of Strange Fruit:
A Dutch Collective, the most important European group of artists of the late XX and early XXI centuries.
The main point is that the artist's will is aimed at creating an image of a new reality. For this, he 1) analyses the environment in which he resides; 2) formulates an image of another reality (utopian, impossible, unknown); and 3) offers options for achieving a new reality.
is not alien to the use of purely performative and theatrical instruments; although he does not create performances, his works can be perceived as visual plays full of dynamics, intrigues, and internal collapses.
Probably, we will even be able to compare Sobolev's works with the classic performances of Strange Fruit:
A Dutch Collective, the most important European group of artists of the late XX and early XXI centuries.
The main point is that the artist's will is aimed at creating an image of a new reality. For this, he 1) analyses the environment in which he resides; 2) formulates an image of another reality (utopian, impossible, unknown); and 3) offers options for achieving a new reality.
What kind of reality does Nikita Sobolev want to bring closer? Certainly more humanistic and fair than the existing one. The reality of a more complex and paradoxical view of things. Nikita's works contain complex optics combining signs, textures and compositions of bodies and masks. Nikita masterfully creates his works as semiotic environments that work both as riddles, as meditative spaces. Nikita is a professional and outstanding artist, and he knows how to convey his passion through his works. We can get in touch with his inner fire, and we see how he enjoys inventing various visual moves and using intricate combinations of graphic and video editors. Sobolev's method is an extrovert's introspection combined with a relentless articulation of oneself, values, and positions for a better state of things. This is the creation of fields of attraction, after all, paradoxically, but his works also perform the function of safe public spaces. Nikita himself easily and ironically plays up this hidden performative potential in his moving, dynamic works, similar to gif-images. Each individual work of the artist is, among other things, an image of his entire creative laboratory, in which caricatures,
loud inscriptions, rough surfaces, and complex emotional collages can coexist (like a mixture of mild annoyance with an attack
of sudden joy).
10.03.2023
Sarah Cerasi
loud inscriptions, rough surfaces, and complex emotional collages can coexist (like a mixture of mild annoyance with an attack
of sudden joy).
10.03.2023
Sarah Cerasi