Yulikov has a special place among the nonconformists of the 1970s-80s: “as the only Russian representative of minimalism,” he creates abstract compositions, archetypal, geometric symbols. Between 1961 and 1965 he studied industrial design and applied art at the Stroganov University, and later graphic art. In the seventies he became an active member of the circle of nonconformist artists, participated in apartment exhibitions and collaborated in editing the emigrant art journal A-Ya, published in Paris. His works follow the tradition of the Russian avant-garde, while relating ironically to the suprematist legacy of Malevich: he is aware that Malevich could not change the world and the society, but he did create a new artistic language. The goal of Yulikov’s art is to explore this language and seek new paths, taking it as a point of departure. Yulikov perceives the world as a rational, mathematical structure undermined by irrational elements; the basis of his art is the tension between the two. His images employ clean geometric shapes to depict the harmony of the world, while introducing irregularities (such as the distortion of symmetry). “Nothing can be said about these objects. They exclude the possibility of any interpretation whatsoever. They demand the impossible: to leave behind the firm shores of taste, knowledge, caution, and comparisons — and to step into emptiness.” (Evgeny Baranov)