Alexander Basil

Critical text

Alexander Basil (b. 1997, Arkhangelsk) is a young artist, formerly a student of Elizabeth Peyton. His practice is deeply focused on drawing, and portraiture in particular. He often creates self-portraits in anonymous interiors, claustrophobic apartments that reflect the alienation of a situation of lockdown. His naked bodies that highlight certain anatomical details seem to bounce in the space, in a kaleidoscopic amplification of the same subject on a micro and macro scales. The interiors are somewhat empty, with little furniture and certain objects that seem to take on the features of the protagonist.  The logic of the selfie typical of Instagram seems to pervade every situation and time stands still in a snapshot where the bubble-gum pink of the skin and the pale brown of uniform hair dominate in the style of a video game. The artist’s judgment of the surrounding reality seems to be suspended, waiting for time to bring an automatic explanation. The nude human figure, overwhelming with its sinuous, curvaceous forms, appears in the act of gazing at itself or at the viewer outside the work, in pursuit of a counterpart with which to identify.

Text by Irina Zucca Alessandrelli