Egor Ostrov is a third-generation artist, a descendant of the old-school academicians and iconoclasts of the 1960s. He thoughtfully defends the artistic legacy of the New Academy of Fine Arts (established in St. Petersburg in the early 1990s by Timur Novikov) regarding the preservation of the ideals of beauty and European tradition in art.

By bringing back to life both the imagery and fundamental principles of neo-academicism and paying tribute to the greatest examples of classical art, with his works Egor Ostrov offers original visual interpretations of familiar compositions, while ‘reinventing’ them for the modern-day audience by using the latest achievements and cutting-edge technologies provided by contemporary science.

It is rather difficult to classify the works of Egor Ostrov. His creative method is unusual and unique. Not only does it require familiarity with world-known masterpieces of painting and sculpture, but also a deep insight into the structure and internal rhythm of each work. To achieve this, one should have the ability to delve into the very essence of the image, detect and emphasize precisely those qualities that make it a masterpiece, whether it is Michelangelo’s tangibility, El Greco’s spiritualism, Bernini’s baroque expression or Ingre’s grace.

At the heart of Egor Ostrov’s unique artistic technique is a linear raster brought by the artist to a fundamentally new level with the help of computer technology. The image is painted on canvas in the form of lines with various thicknesses and saturation. This results in a special optical effect revealing the physics of the eye and visual perception. This is the basic principle of engraving: the strips are structured as a strict sequence with varying levels of thickness, sharpness, and bend; they have their own beginning and end. However, if we talk about engraving as a classical mean of image reproduction, the Old Masters used to produce exquisite copies that still were bearing the impress if their style. In the works of Ostrov, images are being passed through a certain lens, they exist in the world of an optical illusion, and thus the original remains the original.

Such perfectionism allows combining the past and the future without any loss, expressing it in the present. The imagery of Egor Ostrov does not aim for a momentary aesthetic effect; it cannot be comprehended with a fleeting glance. According to Ostrov himself, the modern world is overloaded with images, and the artist’s task is to carefully consider the history of visual knowledge accumulated over the centuries, to understand their internal mechanism and infinite potential.

In this respect, each work of Egor Ostrov turns into a contemplative intellectual and visual dialogue, a kind of tribute to the works of the Old Masters. The images move and vibrate; the hypnotizing raster recreates them over and over, it changes their appearance and mood depending on distance and point of view.

The art of Egor Ostrov brings back the notion of the ideal into modern life that is full of technology, calculations, and worldwide networks. The artist’s work is the embodiment of mathematical beauty, combining absolute accuracy of lines, purity of forms and ideality of the image.
It is a new milestone in neo-academicism, its coexistence in the age of conceptual art’s predominance makes it a retrospective and refreshing phenomenon at the same time.

Born in 1987 in the city of Kopeysk, Chelyabinsk region.

Graduated from I.I. Repin St. Petersburg State Academic Institute in 2014 (graphic arts department, workshop of Andrei Alexeevich Pakhomov).

From 2014 to 2017 he studied at the creative studios of the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.  His works are in the collections of the Fabergé Museum, BREUS Foudation, the private collection of the head of the Guerlain House and in other collections in Russia and abroad. 

The work presented in the "Deformation" series captures the process of profound changes during the experience of something that comes from the outside, the metamorphosis that occurs inside a person in the process of reflection, the scarring of events and the experience of them and the very thought of them, which distort our cognitive shell.

"Having received an art academic education, I continue to develop in various modern media, being in search of new forms and images, I am constantly experimenting with artistic languages. But the lion's share of my fine practice is still black and white graphics.

In my work, I often come across academic drawing with modern trends, at the moment on the verge of between them is the most interesting space for research for me. It is there that you can find out the limits of normality and subjectivity, reality and mysticism, releasing the images of the subconscious in a more accessible visual manner.

Creativity must always be sincere to find its viewer. Creativity is a constant search for our sides. This is a pleasure from the find. This is a continuous resentment from what has already been done, as a sign that it is necessary to move on.

While working on illustrations for Bram Stoker's Dracula, I needed to find a solution for the performance of this piece. Having tried several techniques, the choice fell on the monotype. The miraculous magic of printing, its randomness bribed me, forced me to look for new images and meanings. In parallel with the work on illustrations for the dark novel, the Warp series was born.

Deformation (from Lat. Deformatio - "distortion") - a change in the relative position of body particles associated with their movement relative to each other. This series presents the deep deformations occurring inside a person. Perceptions of events, experiences and thoughts, as well as external factors pass through us, distorting the cognitive shell. Deformation is the fixation of these sensations." (Pavel Bushuev)

 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS

• 2022 - St. Petersburg Art Fair "1703", a-s-t-r-a gallery, Manezh Central Exhibition Hall, St. Petersburg
• 2022 — Program Art Moscow within the framework of the 48th Russian Antique Salon, a-s-t-r-a gallery. Gostiny Dvor, Moscow
• 2021 — Program Art Moscow within the framework of the 46th Russian Antique Salon, a-s-t-r-a gallery. Gostiny Dvor, Moscow
• 2021 — "Russian Shield", St. Petersburg, Russia
• 2020 — Group exhibition "Kholotel", Moscow, Russia
• 2020 — Cosmoscow Art Fair, Moscow, Russia
• 2019 — ART Event Suspense. Brackhausen Mansion, St. Petersburg
• 2019 — ART Event Suspense 2.0. Sevcable Port, St. Petersburg
• 2018 — Intervention. Hermitage, General Staff Building, St. Petersburg
• 2018 — International Fifth Biennale of Graphics. Romania
• 2012 — International Art Exhibition. Beijing, China
• 2011 — 1st place in the competition for the design of the Olympic bill
• 2010 — International Art Exhibition. Seoul, Korea