Denis Ichitovkin lives and works in St. Petersburg, Russia. He graduated from the St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture named after I. E. Repin and completed postgraduate studies at the same institute (Academy of Arts).
His work is characterized by his choice of unremarkable interiors of the simplest urban apartments as subjects: communal kitchens, corridors, bathrooms, and light switches. With photographic precision, he depicts friends near a boiling kettle, his mother at a sewing machine, and guests sleeping in chairs. Through these intimate portrayals, Ichitovkin explores the daily living space of a person, approaching the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk - the term envisions a synthesis of various art forms into a cohesive whole.
The meticulous attention to detail and his ability to capture the essence of everyday life align with this concept. By integrating elements of painting, narrative, and the lived environment, his work transcends a unified artistic experience.
Stylistically, Denis’s manner gravitates towards Dutch painting, particularly the works of Jan Vermeer, with its poeticization of contemporary life and passion for the material world down to the smallest details. Conceptually, the absence of people in his works is more significant than their presence. This emptiness and sublimity create a mesmerizing effect, echoing the resonating silence found in Vermeer’s paintings. The everyday culture of the Soviet era is recreated through Vermeer’s compositional culture. By capturing the essence of mundane urban life and elevating it through his art, the artist not only preserves the memory of specific places and moments but also creates a comprehensive artistic experience that resonates with the viewer on multiple levels.
His work is characterized by his choice of unremarkable interiors of the simplest urban apartments as subjects: communal kitchens, corridors, bathrooms, and light switches. With photographic precision, he depicts friends near a boiling kettle, his mother at a sewing machine, and guests sleeping in chairs. Through these intimate portrayals, Ichitovkin explores the daily living space of a person, approaching the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk - the term envisions a synthesis of various art forms into a cohesive whole.
The meticulous attention to detail and his ability to capture the essence of everyday life align with this concept. By integrating elements of painting, narrative, and the lived environment, his work transcends a unified artistic experience.
Stylistically, Denis’s manner gravitates towards Dutch painting, particularly the works of Jan Vermeer, with its poeticization of contemporary life and passion for the material world down to the smallest details. Conceptually, the absence of people in his works is more significant than their presence. This emptiness and sublimity create a mesmerizing effect, echoing the resonating silence found in Vermeer’s paintings. The everyday culture of the Soviet era is recreated through Vermeer’s compositional culture. By capturing the essence of mundane urban life and elevating it through his art, the artist not only preserves the memory of specific places and moments but also creates a comprehensive artistic experience that resonates with the viewer on multiple levels.
Denis Ichitovkin