Nikita Kosmin

Nikita is not only distinguished by his ability to paint well, but also by his ability to see. And what he sees is not always beautiful. It is characterized by violence, darkness, but also by humor and hope. Born in 1988 on the Volga as the youngest of three siblings into a working-class family, he seems to have sprung from his own paintings. Growing up at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, he saw his life in the dark facets of hopelessness and lack of perspective that surrounded him. When the family moved to Germany in the late 1990s, the artist's young life was increasingly shaped by a lack of belonging, a lack of understanding and being misunderstood, and ultimately the language of violence. It was only through painting, which had always accompanied him through life, that he found a form of expression that was better able to express what he could not put into words. The shadowy worlds of the past and his immediate reality are now reflected in his works, sometimes cruel and dark, sometimes colorful and humorous. The works do not have to be pleasing. They show perspectives. Images. Snapshots.