The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2021 - Issue 30

biteartistreview Alexey Golovin Inspired by the history and Greek mythology, Russian painter Alexey Golovin demonstrates great mastery of light, perspec- tive, depth and composition. He blends tradition and moder- nity through detailed scenes, still life, and landscapes in oil on canvas. “The most important thing in painting for me is beauty. You can choose an awful subject, a tragedy, but you must try to paint a beautiful and expressive picture.” Born in St Petersburg in 1977, Golovin had an extensive art education from 1992 to 2006. He graduated from the highly acclaimed Russian European Art Institute, Crimea Art School and Lieben Academy of Fine Arts, and received an academic achievement award. He became a trainee painter for four years after his final graduation, won the Lenin award, the State Award of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The artist reinterprets tales of the ancient world and offers his modern perspective, whilst at the same time adhering to tradi- tional techniques of painting. This is seen in his paintings such as Andromeda, a galactic spectrum of rich colours with stars, planets and cosmic dust providing the backdrop for the naked woman curled up in space, hiding her modesty, with a hint of seduction and a satiny bedsheet floating behind her. A similar theme in terms of colour and a dark fiery backdrop is Awakening The Hero showing a naked man, also hiding his modesty, sitting on a concrete ground with his knees up to his chest and burying his face in his arms. Behind him, an owl is in flight, carrying a golden wreath towards him. Further works featuring naked men and women, either curled up or stretched out, are so artistically posed with details; they demonstrate the artist’s ancient and modern contrasts. Golovin’s still life paintings consist of vast detailed fruits, bright- ly coloured flowers and green leaves, with drapes of velvet-like fabric, embroidered cloths and intricately decorated vases, some of which feature a monkey or parrots. Nature-themed art- works such as The Temple of Zeus and Autumn Landscape are picturesque with the most intricate details that you think it was a photographic image, but a closer inspection would reveal it’s an oil on canvas.