Vadim Leukhin

In discussing Leukhin’s painting, one must acknowledge that it is, first and foremost, a conceptual work. Part of the series was inspired by personal memories and feelings, while other parts engage with original photographs of that time. Drawing from photos, in this case, is not an end in itself, but instead serves to better represent his own ideas. The original photographs become quoted in these paintings, which are filled with new content...

In discussing Leukhin’s painting, one must acknowledge that it is, first and foremost, a conceptual work. Part of the series was inspired by personal memories and feelings, while other parts engage with original photographs of that time. Drawing from photos, in this case, is not an end in itself, but instead serves to better represent his own ideas. The original photographs become quoted in these paintings, which are filled with new content and enter into another contextual space. This has nothing to do with imitation; it is a very delicate, intellectual game, a dialogue with the original. A collage of quotations, temporal overlaps and disruptions determines the visual component of painting. This is not a historicization of the past, but instead an attempt to relativize it for the present – the unfulfilled promise of the future.