Culture Clash: Alexey Kondakov Is The Artist Mixing Classical Art With Modern Life.
Music by: Laykx -Knight. Image Credit: Alexey Kondakov.
It’s Emily with CULTED.
Alexey Kondakov is a Ukrainian artist famed for clashing classical figures with modern settings. His collages are created digitally and each one has its own story to tell. But for many of his works, it is down to the viewer to complete the tale; it’s up to them to use their imagination.
The metro, rundown side streets, and deserted cafes in Kiev have all been chosen by Kondakov as backdrops. On top of these everyday places, cherubs, nude men and robed women are photoshopped into place. If these figures – which were painted by the likes of Poynter and Rubens – were seen in their original form, they’d be angelic, beautiful and sometimes regal. But in their new settings, the way we view them shifts dramatically. Funny, strange and sometimes even eerie, these collages evoke all kinds of emotions.
Born in 1984, from a young age, Kondakov displayed a natural talent for art. In fact, he painted his first still life painting when he was just six years old. Talking about his series called The Daily Life of Gods with It’s Nice That Magazine, the artist explained that he wanted to know what would happen if he “invit[ed] these [gods] into our reality and imagine they are on streets of modern Kiev?”. For him, his work is all about “life”.
What do you think of Kondakov’s work?
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