Work on the Bugs: Yves Klein, 2021

In this piece, Vladimir Kolesnikov combines two layers of visual culture from the mid-20th century. A pin-up model, one of the most recognizable symbols of pop culture of the 40s and 50s, and the signature blue of the French eccentric artist Yves Klein. Klein is one of the pioneers of contemporary art, an artist who patented his unique pigment of blue (IKB) and created many iconic monochromes with it. As the artist said, "It will be blue and nothing but blue that I will devote my life to!" Vladimir Kolesnikov's work is a witty reference to Anthropometry of the Blue Period - an ode to the female body, painted with nude "living brushes".