Dmitry Tsvetkov - an artist, fashion designer, tailor, miniaturist, who seemingly owns all known types of needlework, is one of the most prominent representatives of his generation. A deep philosophical comprehension of life, a search for connections between seemingly distant spheres, expressive contrasts and attention to the theme of the state and patriotism are the most striking features of the master’s work.
Creative biography of the artist
Dmitry Borisovich Tsvetkov was born in the provincial Kolomna in 1961. At the age of 27, the young man became a graduate of the painting faculty of the Surikov Moscow State Art Institute.
The creative biography of the artist Dmitry Tsvetkov has dozens of personal exhibitions, which were a great success in Russia and abroad. The master's works were exhibited in Belgium (Brussels), Montenegro (Budva), Italy (Rome), Germany (Dresden) and other countries. Notable events in the cultural life of Moscow were two dozen personal exhibitions in Moscow galleries (Krokin Gallery, Marat Gelman Gallery, A-3 Gallery, Soros Center for Contemporary Art), as well as museums in Perm, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg and other cities.
Museum Values
Dmitry Tsvetkov’s paintings are included in the collections of the country's leading museums, such as the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the A. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, the State Center for Contemporary Art and others. In 2009, his name was included in the Kandinsky Prize long-list in the nomination “Project of the Year”.
Unique theme
The artist’s identity distinguishes him among the representatives of his generation. Its image series is largely based on images of military uniforms, orders, emblems, and most importantly, weapons of various kinds. Cold and firearms, modern and historical are performed by a variety of methods. Dmitry Tsvetkov equally skillfully owns both pictorial techniques and the visual and decorative techniques of sewing, beadwork, tapestry, knitting, embroidery, modeling.
The artist names museums as his favorite sources of inspiration:
- Victoria and Alberta in London,
- little italian
- the majestic Hermitage.
The master mentions that the best food for the mind and soul is given not only to the picturesque collections, but also to collections of household items that surround people in everyday life: snuffboxes, fans, coins.
Artistic manner
Attention to detail, the thoroughness and accuracy of the reconstruction of historical details cause the viewer to branch out chains of thoughts and associations that lead memory to the most critical moments of the country's history, times of war and the cult of personality. Unexpected materials used by the artist carry a tangible charge of the author’s ironic attitude to those magnificent objects that his creative gaze is directed at.
As for the technique of execution, the thoroughness and complexity of the work is amazing. It is difficult to imagine that at the beginning of his career Dmitry Tsvetkov was fond of monumental genres. The artist emphasizes ignorantly the twenty-first century with his advanced computer technologies and painstakingly works on his masterpieces, requiring many hours of delicate work: sewing, embroidery, knitting. The artist himself confesses his love to the most frequently used materials: fabrics of various textures and shades, rhinestones, beads, sparkles: “I’m a needlework spider, this is my dear.”
War and fashion - can it be combined?
Dmitry Tsvetkov sees a deep connection between the militaristic themes he develops and art, in particular, high fashion. The artist claims that all the world's leading fashion houses: Prada, Hugo Boss, Christian Dior - not only used military paraphernalia as the starting point of their work, but also continued to develop military uniforms for the armies of different countries. He goes further, insisting that even the history of jewelry fashion collections originates in ancient Greece, where warriors wore metal plaques in battle. One of the most striking events that have clearly demonstrated the connection between war and fashion was the exhibition of the master’s works in Novosibirsk.
The exhibition was held in the format of a closed display of experimental fashion. The artist demonstrated the skill of a fashion designer and tailor, remaining true to his creative principles. Overcoats, hats, automatons turned out to be decorated with bead figures, frivolous lace, velvet, pearls and feathers. The emphasized non-functionality, softness of automatic machines, orders of felt and wool formed an expressive contrast with the hardness of their real prototypes.
Artist Philosophy
Speaking about his creative views, the artist emphasizes that the popular desire for marginality and non-conformism is alien to him today. The master explores the eternal problems that accompany a person on his life path. “What is patriotism?”, “How are the state and a person connected?”, “Is the value of prolonging a person’s old age high?” - these are examples of questions that an artist sets for himself. For example, in the project “Heads of Heroes”, he rethinks the idea of the controversial desire to replace the quality of years lived by their quantity.
One of the most important creative tasks of the master is the search for new pictorial symbols of Russia. The artist philosophically comprehends the history of the country and, recognizing the lack of a clear national idea at the moment, he speaks of the ever-growing significance of imperial surroundings: "The double-headed eagle is already floating." Thus, the task of research and artistic generalization of the features of the state’s representation goes to the level of Dmitry Tsvetkov’s creative mission.