Novikov,Timur Petrovich: Untitled (1991)

Timur Novikov (1958–2002) was one of the most active, internationally acknowledged Russian painters and theoreticians, who appeared on the scene in the 1980s. Beside his artistic activity, he had a lasting influence on the artistic discourse of his hometown, Saint Petersburg. The foundation of the New Artist Group in 1982 was followed by the establishment of the New Academy of Fine Arts in 1989, a statement for the return of the classic traditions into contemporary art. The New Academy was the first and most important art theoretical initiative in post-communist Russia, which provided a foundation not only for painting, but also for video art, electronic music and literature. Also represented in the collection with his View of Leningrad, Timur Novikov made this piece on paper in a later, different creative period. As leader of the New Artists, a group of artists from Leningrad (exhibited at Kunsthalle Budapest in 1990), in 1989, in collaboration with some of his associates, Novikov renamed the “unit” which had engendered from New Artists and operated for a while under the name “Free University Of Various Acts”, giving birth to yet another group named New Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), opening a new chapter in contemporary Russian art. One of the basic principles of NAFA was the revival of the relationship with classical art, standing up against modernism. Neocademism soon gathered several followers, even on an international level. Apollo and Venus were once again put on a pedestal, while a number of neoacademists preferred combining classical elements with the opportunities inherent in new techniques (especially media art and the computer). In 1993, Novikov opened the Museum of the New Academy of Fine Arts, which was one of the first museums of contemporary art in the country. Even after he went blind in 1997, Novikov continued to be the leader of his movement, ever so actively taking part in various actions. Around 1990, Novikov began adding everyday elements to his schematic, emblematic pieces filled with stencilled or handmade symbols applied onto textile or paper. The atmosphere of Untitled clearly alludes to the military operations of the Gulf War, which was going on at the time, while its technique and composition reflects Novikov’s “ornamental” use of materials and pursuit of symmetry.