Илья Дроздов. Нарисуй это черным

Draw it in black

Artist Ilya Drozdov formed himself through interaction with the information flow even during his time working in media, where his talent as a collage artist, painter, and satirist perfectly suited current news events. After embarking on a free flight, Ilya began to “cast masterpieces” not into newspaper pages but onto large-scale canvases. Scenes from cinema, ornaments from manuscripts, characters from various photographs and posters, reproductions of old paintings became materials for him to create grand images. Large series of works dedicated to iconic Soviet heroes, ideological emptiness, and new medieval times form a harmonious creative portrait of the author. Even the cycle of floral still lifes carries a certain eerie quality due to its deliberately garish multicoloredness. 

In the gallery “13.20,” located at Myasnitskaya Street within the Quattro Spase space, an individual exhibition by Ilya Drozdov titled “Draw It In Black” is opening. 

The series of paintings created this year in silver-gray tones are, as always, philosophical reflections of the artist, an atmospheric mix of symbolic objects from different eras. Ilya has his own audience, both viewers and collectors alike. 

A neutral color does not mean uninteresting.

Curator Oleg Arnautov

November 9-30, 2025