Anatoly Belov
Born in 1977 in Kyiv. Lives and works in Berlin.
At various times, Anatoly Belov’s artistic practice was connected with graphics, street art, performance art, cinema, and electronic music. Personal experience is always present at the basis of the artist’s creative method. Using a variety of techniques and approaches, Belov invariably continues the conversation about the personal through his experience and the experience of his characters, exploring the freedom of views and actions. The main theme of Belov’s works is queerness, homosexuality, and carnality.
Psychedelic Forest
Since 2020
Graphics, paper, liner, watercolor, silkscreen, digital image
Courtesy of the artist
The series tells the story of adaptation and survival through an encounter with an apocalyptic, mysterious, and sad forest. The trees resemble human bodies, with branches that look like limbs or mutating muscles, imitating, at the same time, various human fears, hopes, and sufferings. Perhaps these trees are predators trying to lure in their prey, or maybe they’re defending themselves by trying to scare away uninvited guests, much like some species of butterflies that frighten predators with patterns that imitate snake eyes on their wings.