Vladimir Abikh was born in 1987 in Yekaterinburg. Educated in the field of contemporary art (PRO ARTE Foundation) and film directing. Five-time nominee for the Sergei Kuryokhin Prize. Participant of the main programs of the Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art at the Garage Museum, the Ural Industrial Biennale, the Krasnoyarsk Biennale, the Artmossphere Biennale of Street Art, the Némo Biennale of Digital Art (Paris), as well as many other international exhibitions and festivals. Lives and works in St. Petersburg.
Vladimir writes…
“In my practice, three things are crucial for me:
The potential
Globally, I see an artist as a guide of potential, as someone who preserves in society the very function of fantasizing, the ability to suddenly create something out of nothing — as well as to rebuild, rework, redefine or mystify. In dystopias, even the process of fantasizing is always prohibited and punished. Although it is exactly fantasy, irrationality and futility of our actions distinguish us from the rest of the animal kingdom. It seems like an artist is the one constantly asking "why not?" — so why not indeed!
The exposed
In my projects, I try to find an implicit contradiction which is hidden — and expose it. From my viewpoint, this is a major power of art. It's like something that always existed but never been noticed: when you finally notice it, you inevitably start seeing it everywhere.
The hidden
At the same time, it is good when something remains hidden, when the viewer does not immediately get what he is dealing with. A work of art that "opens up" quickly and easily becomes too superficial and sometimes even "vulgar". The ambiguity and the strangeness, on the contrary, provokes some research. In my works I always try to leave something extra to what is seen.”
“In my projects, I try to find an implicit contradiction which is hidden — and expose it.”
My work "Flow 4" is a triptych. Each piece is a lenticular print on plastic, and the image on it changes depending on the angle of view.
It seemed that the technological process, which gave the world the Internet and mobile communications, would simplify our life, free up a lot of time and create a completely different new world. At the same time, this process dictated the rules of new life. Now it is necessary to be online continually and to exchange instant messages. It is a part of us to consume information constantly, record it and send it, as well as keep the history of all visited places to prove that your life is not boring and usual. The existence is getting super speed, so our consciousness does not have time to think about seen things. Continuous flow of crushed and simple memes replaced big discourses. The images contain an animated process of changing screens of social networks on a long exposure.
To see more of Vladimir’s artwork please visit his website or follow him on Instagram
