Erik Bulatov

🔳Erik Bulatov (born 1933) is a Russian artist, who was raised in Moscow. 

His father was a communist party official who died in World War II at Pskov, and his mother fled Poland at age 15 in support of the Russian Revolution. 

Bulatov's works are in the major public and private collections in Europe, Russia and the United States. In 2008 Bulatov became an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts.

It is thought that Bulatov works in a sots art style. "Bulatov's paintings are large, colorful, realistic images of landscapes, skies, urban settings, and people, many of which are painted over and partially obscured by wry words or phrases.

Metaphorically rich and poetic blue skies are overlaid with Russian texts that translate: 'Glory to the U.S.S.R.' or 'Trademark'. Lush, green landscapes toil under the labels 'Not To Be Leaned On' or 'Caution.' 

Bulatov's subject matter is broad. Equally broad is his perception of the government's role in the classification and control of everything. Bulatov symbolizes the government through his use of language as a system of order and control, the foundation of written law and constraint which he then plasters on every tree and rock.

It is in this sense that Bulatov's paintings may take on a more universal accuracy and a more populist appeal. His emphasis on only the public and external aspects of life--the street, the land, the State television broadcast--reinforces the notion that one's thoughts and feelings are (still) one's own. the psychological and emotional are beyond the confines of words, language, and law."

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