{"id":1861,"date":"2021-10-03T17:00:51","date_gmt":"2021-10-03T17:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/?p=1861"},"modified":"2022-04-12T17:37:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T15:37:20","slug":"kaliningrad-artist-el-kartoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/kaliningrad-artist-el-kartoon\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaliningrad Artist El Kartoon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Let\u2019s face it and the cost of fast food ~ Limitations<\/em> and Silence<\/em> by Kaliningrad artist El Kartoon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Updated: 4 October 2021 | first published: 28 July 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my blog post of 9 November 2019<\/a> I wrote about an unusual art exhibition we had attended and how we had been seduced by a particular artist\u2019s work. A couple of months ago, a number of artworks by this artist were up for grabs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artist, anonymous artist (nom de guerre El Kartoon) had placed a number of his works for sale on the internet and was about to advertise them via Facebook. However, before the works were posted on Facebook the exhibition organiser, recalling our interest in the artist\u2019s work, emailed my wife, Olga, to ascertain if we were in the market for any of the pieces he was selling, particularly the half-face painted on metal substrate, as we had expressed an interest specifically in this item, together with another composition featuring Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a while, we ummed and ahhhed, as you do; Olga weighing up the cost of the paintings against the number of plants she could buy for the garden, and me, mentally converting the cost of the paintings into foaming glasses of ale. Eventually, we decided to compromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The painting we bought was that of the female face, or rather half a female face, painted not on board or canvas but on a sheet of rusty metal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The painting in question, Limitations<\/em>, certainly has an innate power. When I beheld it unwrapped and standing in the lobby at the foot of our attic steps I experienced an overwhelming and incisive sense of awe, which rapidly transmuted, becoming first privilege and then disbelief that we now actually owned this fascinating composition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artistic arrangement is simple but effective. The face has been painted on  a metal sheet. The sheet is old and rusting. It has a turned edge on one side, suggesting that in a previous life it had an industrial-mechanical purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The face is female and comprises exactly 50% of a full human face, the invisible proportion achieved by positioning the image on the extreme left hand-side of the substrate. Both the location of the image and the facial expression lends itself to the interpretation of peering anxiously out from behind something, in the way, for example, you might steal a glance from behind a half-opened door. The remaining portion of the metal base, approximately one-third, has been left untreated ~ rusting and tarnished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
El Kartoon ‘Be Seeing You!’ in our attic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have suggested that the expression on the face betrays a sense of anxiety, to that can be added apprehension. The looker is uneasy, vulnerable. The one eye, brilliant blue, reflects something white and rectangular. The blue of the eye is as deep and beautiful as it is insistent; the glazed reflection upon its surface (could it be a window?) stares out at you above the dark well of the pupil, drawing you into its mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything in the composition of the face itself, the broad, black serrated outline, the layers that form the contours of the face and the fine details, are jagged, frayed, fragmenting. There is nothing calm, nothing quiescent. Whatever it is that informs the expression, it is as unnerved as it is unnerving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this work, as in most of the artist\u2019s works that we have seen, a striking and, I am inclined to believe, essential engine of the thematic enigma resides in the application of a curious overlay of geometrical lines. In this example, those lines are fainter than in his other creations and do not extend so definitely from the painting\u2019s centrality into the outlying images or borders, but they are there ~ on the exposed and rusting metal and among the drizzle and daubed discolouration, the latter looking like natural erosion, perhaps from water exposure, as if, along with the fading black paint to one corner, they belong to the metal\u2019s former existence, to its pre-artistic, functional and then discarded history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the beholder, these lines are key. They, above anything else, if there is, indeed, anything else, help to unlock all manner of ambivalence. But one is a constant, and that is that the lines emphasise connectivity ~ the inescapable interconnection between the realm of flesh and emotion and the hard, unyielding, material world to which, no matter how unforgiving it is, we are all hardwired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taken together with other paintings by the same artist in which this technique is employed, I am inclined to understand these lines to be not just an overlay on an overwhelmed human face extending outwards and then back again into and from the physical world but the circuit board of modern life, which speaks to us not just of hard engineering but in the technological idiom by which our life is controlled and defined ~ the ultimate interconnectivity from which there is no escape, at least not for us in our flesh and blood lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the nature of this unusual painting and its more than flirtatious relationship with negativity, I was surprised that it somehow fitted into Olga\u2019s reality of butterflies, trees and flowers, but the mystery was made known to me when after voicing my confusion she declared simply that she did not find the composition unnerving. \u2018Vulnerable\u2019, yes; \u2018unnerving, no\u2019. Had she really failed to discern the connection between our vulnerability in this world ~ the world that others have created for us ~ and how this might be ~ indeed cannot be, anything else but unnerving?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was pleased, however, that her second choice as to where to hang the painting, which was the kitchen, was discounted fairly quickly, not on the basis of my interpretation but, whilst she would not see the picture as often as she liked, on the wall at the bottom of the attic steps, which seemed to be the place for it. We agreed on this. It fitted perfectly. It was where it would have most impact without impacting mostly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthony Hopkins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

 Since learning that Mr Anonymous\u2019 paintings were on the market for prices we could afford, we had been arguing the toss as to whether we should buy another of this gentleman\u2019s artworks, the one based on Anthony Hopkins\u2019 fictional character, Hannibal Lecter, in The<\/em> Silence of the Lambs<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"El
El Kartoon’s ‘Silence’ as seen at the 2019 art exhibition, Kaliningrad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had negotiated a price for this second artwork provided we bought both, ie the half-face, Limitations<\/em>, and Silence<\/em> as well, and had just about talked ourselves out of it when our inquiries as to why there was a near identical painting masquerading as graffiti on a small brick utility building opposite Kaliningrad\u2019s lake met with an interesting answer: apparently, the artist had been caught subjecting the aforesaid building to his aesthetic skills, had been summarily arrested and thereafter charged with vandalism. The case had gone to court but in conclusion had been dismissed*.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kaliningrad
El Kartoon’s open-air work, sadly, since defaced*<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

*Note that this public stencil was painted over sometime in 2021 \ud83e\udd14<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artist\u2019s compulsion to reproduce his painting as ~ ahem ~ an \u2018urban art form\u2019 had arisen, we were told, out of twin noble sentiments: a sense of civic duty and moral obligation. He had disposed the image where he did as a warning to young ladies who, reportedly, were apt to congregate there after dark to eat the stuff they had bought from a certain US fast-food chain nearby. The artist wished to say, \u2018look out there are predators about’ and was not necessarily commenting on the quality, or perhaps the content, of what it was they were eating or who, in fact, they were buying it from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The framed artwork has an interesting historical annotation attached to it in that it still bears the official tag it was given as a possible \u2018exhibit\u2019 in a court of law!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bugger! We had to have it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olga beamed with delight when I suggested that she get on the blower right away and tell the lady in charge of the art exhibitions that we had decided to take it if the artist was prepared to wait for payment at the end of the month. She, the lady, opined that it was a matter of fate that we would buy both as we had expressed such interest in them when first we saw them at the exhibition. Like Olga she believed that we were meant to own them. And I believe they were meant to own us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 El Kartoon’s ‘Silence’ displayed in our attic <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further information on the artist and artist\u2019s work:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A comment from my wife, Olga, on her Facebook account<\/strong>
Mick and I bought these artworks just because we like the feel and amplitude. They call the artist the Russian Bansky, because of his distinctive stencilling technique. His works have been featured on the streets of Kaliningrad. I wonder if he will sell the copyright? When he is as famous as Bansky (and I believe he will become so one day, as he has talent), his public \u2018installations\u2019 might be sold by removing the walls they were painted on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notes from the art exhibitor’s website [link no longer active as at 12\/04\/2022] Art Space Gallery <\/strong>
El Kartoon, artist<\/em><\/strong>
The main direction [of his work] is stencil graphics aspiring to painting. The works reflect the desire to reflect fundamental values, feelings and social problems through the prism of our digital age. Contemporary, about contemporaries, for contemporaries.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Kartoon<\/strong>
And now in Russian …<\/em>
\u041e\u0441\u043d\u043e\u0432\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u043d\u0430\u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u2013 \u0442\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0430\u0440\u0435\u0442\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f\u0449\u0430\u044f\u0441\u044f \u043a \u0436\u0438\u0432\u043e\u043f\u0438\u0441\u0438. \u0412 \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0430\u0445 \u043e\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0436\u0435\u043d\u043e \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435\u043c\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u043e\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0437\u0438\u0442\u044c \u043d\u0435\u043a\u0438\u0435 \u0444\u0443\u043d\u0434\u0430\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u0446\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438, \u043e\u0449\u0443\u0449\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f, \u0441\u043e\u0446\u0438\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0431\u043b\u0435\u043c\u044b \u0441\u043a\u0432\u043e\u0437\u044c \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0437\u043c\u0443 \u043d\u0430\u0448\u0435\u0439 \u0446\u0438\u0444\u0440\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0439 \u044d\u043f\u043e\u0445\u0438.\u042d\u0442\u0430 \u0436\u0438\u0432\u043e\u043f\u0438\u0441\u044c – \u043e\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0436\u0430\u044e\u0449\u0430\u044f \u0441\u043e\u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0432, \u043e \u0441\u043e\u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u2026
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Kartoon<\/strong>
EL Kartoon \u043d\u0430\u0447\u0430\u043b \u0440\u0438\u0441\u043e\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0444\u0438\u0442\u0438 \u0432 1998 \u0433\u043e\u0434\u0443. \u0421 2002 \u043f\u043e 2009 \u0433\u043e\u0434 \u0431\u044b\u043b \u0442\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0440\u044b\u0432. \u0421 2009 \u0433\u043e\u0434\u0430 \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0430\u0435\u0442 \u0432 \u0442\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0430\u0440\u0435\u0442\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0442\u0435\u0445\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0435.\u0415\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0445\u0443\u0434\u043e\u0436\u043d\u0438\u043a, \u043a\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0440\u044b\u0439 \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0434\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0432\u043b\u044f\u0435\u0442 \u0442\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0430\u0440\u0435\u0442\u043d\u0443\u044e \u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0438\u043a\u0443 \u043d\u0430 \u043c\u0435\u0436\u0434\u0443\u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e\u0434\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0430\u0440\u0435\u043d\u0435, \u0432 \u0447\u0430\u0441\u0442\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438 \u043d\u0430 \u043a\u0440\u0443\u043f\u043d\u0435\u0439\u0448\u0435\u0439 \u043c\u0435\u0436\u0434\u0443\u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e\u0434\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0432\u044b\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0432\u043a\u0435 \u0442\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0430\u0440\u0435\u0442\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0438\u0441\u043a\u0443\u0441\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430 Stencil Art Prize, Sidney, Australia, \u0430 \u0442\u0430\u043a \u0436\u0435 \u044f\u0432\u043b\u044f\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u0443\u0447\u0430\u0441\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043c The Kutz, Bristol, United Kingdom<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u041e \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0435 \u00ab\u041c\u043e\u043b\u0447\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0435…\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u041f\u0440\u0438\u0447\u0438\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0441\u043e\u0437\u0434\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442\u044b \u043f\u043e\u0441\u043b\u0443\u0436\u0438\u043b\u043e \u0441\u043b\u0443\u0447\u0430\u0439\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u043d\u0430\u0431\u043b\u044e\u0434\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u0437\u0430 \u043d\u043e\u0447\u043d\u044b\u043c\u0438 “\u043e\u0431\u0438\u0442\u0430\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044f\u043c\u0438” \u043f\u0430\u0440\u043a\u043e\u0432\u043a\u0438, \u043a\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0440\u044b\u0435 \u0432 \u043d\u043e\u0447\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f \u0435\u0434\u044f\u0442 \u0442\u0430\u043c \u041c\u0430\u043a\u0434\u043e\u043d\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0434\u0441.\u0412 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0446\u0435\u0441\u0441\u0435 \u0441\u043e\u0437\u0434\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f \u043a\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0438\u043d\u044b \u043d\u0430 \u0441\u0442\u0435\u043d\u0435 \u0431\u043b\u0438\u0437\u043b\u0435\u0436\u0430\u0449\u0435\u0433\u043e \u0437\u0434\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440 \u0431\u044b\u043b \u0430\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d \u0438 \u0434\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0432\u043b\u0435\u043d \u0432 \u043e\u0442\u0434\u0435\u043b \u043c\u0438\u043b\u0438\u0446\u0438\u0438. \u0427\u0430\u0441\u044b, \u043a\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0440\u044b\u0435 \u0434\u043e\u043b\u0436\u043d\u044b \u0431\u044b\u043b\u0438 \u043f\u043e\u043a\u0430\u0437\u044b\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f – 18:00, \u0441\u0434\u0435\u043b\u0430\u0442\u044c \u043d\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0443\u0447\u0438\u043b\u043e\u0441\u044c, \u043d\u043e \u0431\u043b\u0430\u0433\u043e\u0434\u0430\u0440\u044f \u044d\u0442\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0430 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0443\u0447\u0438\u043b\u0430 “\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0443\u044e \u043e\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0441\u043a\u0443” \u0438 \u043d\u043e\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0441\u043c\u044b\u0441\u043b. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

O \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0435” Limitations”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u041c\u0435\u0442\u0430\u043b\u043b – \u044d\u0442\u043e \u0430\u0441\u0441\u043e\u0446\u0438\u0430\u0446\u0438\u044f \u0445\u0443\u0434\u043e\u0436\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u0441 \u043e\u043a\u0440\u0443\u0436\u0430\u044e\u0449\u0438\u043c \u043c\u0438\u0440\u043e\u043c. \u0412 \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0435 “Limitations”- \u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435\u043a \u0432 \u043a\u0430\u043a\u043e\u0439 \u0442\u043e \u0441\u0442\u0435\u043f\u0435\u043d\u0438 \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0435\u0440\u0442, \u0432 \u043a\u0430\u043a\u043e\u0439-\u0442\u043e \u0441\u0442\u0435\u043f\u0435\u043d\u0438 \u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0447\u0435\u043d. \u042d\u0442\u0430 \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0430 \u044f\u0432\u043b\u044f\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u043e\u0434\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0438\u0437 \u0441\u0435\u0440\u0438\u0438 \u0443\u043b\u0438\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442 \u043d\u0430 \u0442\u0435\u043c\u0443 “\u0446\u0438\u0444\u0440\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435\u043a\u0430” – \u0441\u043e\u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e, \u0442\u0435\u0445\u043d\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0433\u0438\u0447\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e, \u043e\u0446\u0438\u0444\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0438 \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0449\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0432 \u0441\u0435\u0442\u044c, \u0432 \u0442\u0438\u0440\u0430\u0436, \u0438 \u043a\u0430\u043a \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0443 \u043a\u0430\u0437\u0430\u043b\u043e\u0441\u044c \u0432 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0446\u0435\u0441\u0441\u0435 \u043d\u0430\u0434 \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0439 – \u044d\u0442\u043e \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f \u043d\u0430\u0441\u0442\u0443\u043f\u0430\u0435\u0442 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e. \u041d\u0435\u0434\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u0437\u0430\u043a\u043e\u043d\u044b, \u043f\u0440\u0438\u043d\u044f\u0442\u044b\u0435 \u0432 \u041c\u043e\u0441\u043a\u0432\u0435, \u043f\u043e\u0434\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0436\u0434\u0430\u044e\u0442 “\u0442\u0435\u043e\u0440\u0438\u044e \u0446\u0438\u0444\u0440\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435\u043a\u0430”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now in English …<\/em>
El Kartoon<\/strong>
The only Russian artist who represents stencil graphics in the international arena, in particular at the largest international exhibition of Stencil Art, Sidney, Australia. He also participated in The Kutz Exhibition, Bristol, United Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the artwork Silence<\/em>
Silence<\/em> came from the accidental observation of the night ‘inhabitants’ ~ the young who congregate in the parking area close to McDonald’s to consume the food they purchase from the fast-food chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the process of the creating the stencilled work on the side of a building close to the parking area, the artist was arrested and taken to the police department. The clock, which was supposed to show the time, 18:00, was not finished, but thanks to this unfinished touch, the work received a ‘new colour’ and  a new meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the artwork Limitations<\/em>
El Kartoon writes: “Metal is my association with the outside world. In this case, the subject is locked to some extent, to some extent limited …”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limitations<\/em> was a series of street works on the topic of ‘digital man’ ~ modern, technological, digitised and launched into the network, in circulation and so on. At the time when the work was being created, it seemed to the artist that the time of the ‘digital man’ was rapidly approaching. Recent laws adopted in Moscow suggest to the artist that the time of the ‘digital man’ has come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9 2018-2022 Mick Hart. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n\n\n