Black rectangles and painted crosses: An Omsk artist has deleted all of his paintings from social media after being denounced by Orthodox activists.
The activists were not satisfied with how exactly Nikita Pozdnyakov depicts saints and that he paints churches without crosses, the artist announced on his social media the day before (the publication has now been deleted).
“The icing on the cake was that Orthodox activists from Forty Forties came to my solo exhibition in Moscow and, offended, called the police, — wrote Pozdnyakov. “The police seized 11 of my paintings and are now conducting an examination to determine whether they offend religious feelings.”
The artist stated that he now plans to republish his paintings one a day, but with censorship: "With closed black rectangles of saints and crosses painted on churches." All published paintings will be sold, as this is Nikita's only source of income.
Previously, pro-government media called Pozdnyakov's paintings "blasphemous":
"The artist, apparently so enriched by his knowledge, decided to use images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other saints in his work. All in the spirit of 'modern art.'" Pozdnyakov's paintings were shown in the center of the capital during Holy Week. - wrote “Paragraph”.
Pozdnyakov has previously faced criticism for his work. In 2021, the International Foundation for Slavic Literature and Culture filed a denunciation against him, and in 2023, the artist was summoned to Center "E" for his depictions of tanks bearing the letters "V" and "Z."