Kirill Nikolaev is not a name that most people will have heard in connection with the history of montage. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, he is a complete unknown. I came across his intriguing images on a ponderously slow Russian website and was captivated by their beauty, and for that reason alone, he is included here.

This 32 year old Muscovite is by training and occupation a systems engineer, but his talents are certainly many and varied. In our correspondence he has expanded on his range of studies and interest. These include music (jazz and traditional - he has produced a CD of ancient Russian music), dance (as a participant and photographer), philosophy, psychology, history of art, and of course collage.

There is something wonderfully timeless about these images. Possibly the fact that Kirill is a part-time "amateur" artist allows him to work outside of any prevailing fashions. His collages look like they could have been made at any time in the last hundred years, and yet they are somewhat post-modern in their recognition of what has gone before. He works from cut-up pieces of old magazines, and in some ways his technique could be compared with some of Hannah Höch's later abstractions.

Although acutely aware of this history, he mostly cites painters as his influences: Malevitch, Kandinsky, Miro, Ernst. At first glance it might be thought that these images are paintings, and the appreciation of the lessons of these masters in balancing colour and form shines through in each one. There is exuberance here, a pure love of art, and a freedom of expression, that is a joy to behold.

 

Please check out some of Kirill Nikolaev's
varied output at some of his websites
(or email him for a chat):

&nbps;

Photoforum.ru

Kirill's Art Page

Contact Kirill

 

Nikon digital camera reviews and prices