Sitnikov Alexander

Alexander G. Sitnikov (1945) – a vivid representative of the generation of artists of the seventies. He entered the art scene during the years of dull stagnation in society and culture, but was able to stir up and interest the audience, creating works full of subtle intellectualism, special poetics, developing author’s mythologies that are far from the requirements of official art. A variety of cycles allows us to trace the development of his creative quests from his early works in the spirit of “naive and ironic lyricism” through the lyrics of the mid-1960s and early 1970s. The author is constantly experimenting, looking for new forms of self-expression and topics in the socio-cultural space. His painting is metaphorical, the game with the viewer and with the picturesque forms comes to the fore – the artist creates an intellectual platform with humanitarian signs and symbols of civilization. The works of A. Sitnikov have elements of a metaphysical study of the imaginary world.

In 1972, Alexander Sitnikov graduated from the graphic department of the Surikov Moscow State Art Institute, and in 1975 was admitted to the Union of Artists. Started exhibiting in 1967.

For the first time, the artist began to be exhibited in the 1970s with subtle, aesthetic and symbolist paintings from the series “Beautiful Girls”. In the mid-1980s, Alexander Sitnikov turned to the topic of musical creativity. In expressionist works, broken, energetic and nervous rhythms, intersecting geometric planes convey the music of the 20th century ingenious composers – D. Shostakovich and A. Schnittke. In a series of volumetric constructions, “Native Speech”, reflecting on the themes of Russian avant-garde of the early 20th century, Alexander Sitnikov plays with geometric signs, symbols of civilization, using a cross, square, triangle, depicting them with laconic, active colors. Since 2000, the artist has been working on a constructivist-plastic series, which very successfully combines the methods, sources and motives of his art. In 2007 A. Sitnikov was elected a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts. For retrospective exhibitions of the artist published catalogs, as well as biographies and other reference materials. Alexander Sitnikov participated in more than fifty exhibitions around the world.

Painting by Alexander Sitnikov “Feast of Predators” was written in 1987, one of the artist’s works from the cycle “Not People – Beasts” of the 1980s. The image of expressive bulls charged with color energy, bleeding mortally wounded animals give way to the enlightened faces of the gods. This period of creativity glorified the artist, made his style unique and distinctive.

The works are in museums: State Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum, Art Museums of Alma-Ata, Arkhangelsk, Bryansk, Istra, Magadan, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Petrozavodsk, Rostov-on-Don, Saratov, Semipalatinsk, as well as in museums of modern art in Sofia (Bulgaria), P. Ludwig (Germany), Zimmerli (New Jersey, USA).