Alexei Stepanov

Stepanov Born in 1982. Lives in Krasnodar. Graduate of Krasnodar Institute of Architecture and Construction, Architecture and Design Faculty. Finalist and winner of the Young Palette grant (2006).

After almost one hundred years, Suprematism is still alive and kicking. Alexei Stepanov’s work is an elegant expression of irony vis-a`-vis the message of avant-garde art. He has animated impassive abstractions to produce an artistic cartoon film. Technically, Stepanov’s works oppose the very idea of Suprematism, because Malevich wanted the genre to be completely devoid of figurative meaning. And now, modern Suprematism has not only come to life but found its theme. Mere hints of the great originals remain; Stepanov’s Freedom, for example, portrays a setting sun, but one recognizes an upended version of El Lissitzky’s poster, Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge. His Without Questions is about the “souvenir” quality that avant-garde art has assumed: he uses color planes to represent two small mannequins hammering a black square, as in the folk toy with two wooden bears. Stepanov depicts well-thumbed clicheїs in the elitist language of Suprematism, having erased the distinction between the triteness of a subject and its aesthetic visualisation.
Yulia Lebedeva

Из серии Супрематизм в движении. 2 в 1. 2006. Варио-панель, лайтбокс. 100×100 каждая; From the series Suprematism in Movement. 2 in 1. .2006. Burner panel, light box. 100 x 100 cm. each