Lot 122: f - Konstantin Zvezdochetov , b.1958 Moscow types: intelligentsia oil on canvas

titled in Cyrillic l.m.; signed in Cyrillic and dated 2000 on reverse oil on canvas

50 by 60cm., 19 3/4 by 23 3/4 in.

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

One of the most dynamic and recognised artists of the Moscow school, Konstantin Zvezdochetov plays visual tricks with images from Russian folklore, characters from world history, ideological cliché and elements of everyday life. Bringing together characters from Russian and Western European high and low culture such as Viola and Uncle Ben, Joseph Beuys and Antoine de Saint Exupéry, in seemingly random arrangements within his own mythological context, Zvezdochetov's works become a critical analysis of collective unconsciousness, history of art and society. His trademark style is a similar patchwork of techniques incorporating elements of Russian iconography, oriental design, Soviet cartoon and mosaics. In the offered work from the Moscow Types series, Zvezdochetov presents classic images of Russian nineteenth and twentieth century intellectuals, such as Tolstoy and Pushkin, reduced to two-dimensional caricature, knowingly involving the viewer in a game of endless satirical associations.