IVAN ARKHIPOV (RU)
Text written by GHA
Even if trained as an engraver, Ivan Arkhipov goes further than the conventional limits of the classical graphic arts practice.
His videos are one of the clearest examples of his experimental approach, showing strong skills with the dry-point technique, as well as remarkable storytelling and digital video editing abilities.
Frame by frame, the Russian artist pressed hundreds and hundreds of plates, bringing to life his vivid and restless imagination in short films with the assistance of digital manipulation with the resulting images.
A great balance is made between the sharp strokes for the human figures and the ones resembling hay, concerning the surrounding environment: that is how a tangible affinity is made by the artist between the dry air of a location similar to a desert and the bold figures’ outlines.
Torment is the main subject, which lurks in every frame, composition and figure within. There is a high reliance on allegorical figures inside the overall artistic practice. He uses metaphors, for example animals, to visualise abstract ideas and the image of wounded human beings seem affected by horrors and traumas. Ivan Arkhipov invites the viewer to question one’s state of mind and how we emphatise with one another in our current society.
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Horseman red Temptation
