Artists - Part 34

 Kirill Fadeyev

Kirill Fadeyev, born in 1977, is a Ukrainian architectural designer and artist based in Kiev.  He is the creator of a number of sculptural and architectural monuments, including the monument to the WWII fallen soldiers in the center of Kiev.  But today we will look at his paintings.  Above, the artist working on a partially-completed painting.

Here is the finished painting, Gulliver On the Beach, 2013.  Fedeyev's art is extremely homoerotic.  Almost all of it depicts nude males.  This piece illustrates the familiar story of Gulliver being tied up by the Lilliputians, except Gulliver is naked.

Some of his art depicts conventional nudes, often with a bit of humor.  This is Conversation With the Frog, 2020.

This is The Mower, 2017.  The blue and gold halves of the painting echo the Ukrainian flag.

This is Pinocchio, 2012.  It appears that when Pinocchio told a lie, more than just his nose got bigger.

A lot of Fadeyev's paintings show erections.  This one, King Henry VIII Hangover, is rather amusing, depicting King Henry with a hangover and morning wood.  Who knows, it might be a more accurate depiction of the notoriously lusty king than the standard portraits of him.

A more fanciful image is Dreams Come True, 2018.

This jester with an erection is not just anyone.  Fedeyev wrote: "Once one handsome guy was posing for me for this painting, but the guy apparently knew some kind of spell, and in the end we have been together for many years."

Although he frequently paints nudes and erections, Fadeyev almost never depicts sex.  But he hints at it, like Etude - Butt, above, where the bull's eye is clearly a target in more ways than one.  That's Fadeyev's hand in the foreground as he works on the painting.

Forbidden Fruit depicts fruit, but in the background is the real forbidden fruit.

We end with Target.  Will the shooter hit the target?

In 2022, Fedeyev himself and all other Ukrainians became targets for Russian attacks.  The director of Adonis Art wrote: "I contacted Kirill by email on the first day of the war.  In reply he told me he was sheltering in a Metro Station along with hundreds of other residents of the city.  He did not know what he was going to do."  However, since then, Fadeyev has posted new work on Instagram and on his website, including Target, above, and a New Year's greeting for 2023, so he is holding on.