Escapist
The Ruarts Foundation presents the second solo exhibition by Nootk, a contemporary Russian artist whose style combines the influence of street culture with his interests in illustration and cartoon aesthetics. The exhibition ‘Escapist’ is not an escape from reality, as the title might suggest, but rather a conscious immersion into its hidden layers, an attempt to capture the fleeting moment. In an era when a stream of bright, intrusive images and endless digital noise constantly divert our attention, for Nootk art becomes not just expression, but a true act of self-preservation.
The works emerge from an intuitive process in which the subject matter does not precede the image, but is born within it. Lines freely migrate across the surface of the canvas, gaining texture and volume before turning into a figure. Inanimate objects – stones, boards, hammers and small items from everyday life – unexpectedly acquire their own ‘gaze’. “All my creative life I’ve been adding eyes, noses and legs to various objects and assembling compositions from them. A stone with eyes is a completely different stone,” says the artist, emphasising the simple, almost archaic gesture of animation as the core technique of his practice.
Nootk’s style is recognisable and unlike that of any other street artist. These are situations observed on the street, which, like freeze frames, transform into surreal images. In this series contour has disappeared for the first time, giving a sense of space and air. The technical execution of the series is inextricably linked to its concept. Using a low-pressure airbrush, the artist deliberately departs from the glossy perfection of digital graphics, producing a living, vibrant texture. Absurd scenarios with cartoon characters allow the artist to freely experience an alternative life.
Nootk (b. 1981, Hungary) is a graphic artist whose style combines the influence of street culture with interests in the field of illustration and the cartoon aesthetics of the 1980s and 90s, known to the public for his vibrant style with characters that often form a colourful pattern. The interplay of straight and smooth lines is a distinctive feature of the Nootk style. In 2005 he graduated from the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography with a degree in architecture. In 1998 he made his first graffiti; in 2002 he founded the ABC graffiti team and two years later joined the large graffiti collective MDT, before becoming part of the Pain Brakers group and the creative duo Mainstreamers. Since 2011 he has concentrated on solo creativity. Inspired by European graffiti and writers who went beyond the traditional use of fonts, Nootk began working with characters. The unfolding stories are largely autobiographical, with colour changes depending on the mood. “I noticed that every five years I get tired of coloured drawings and for a while do only b/w work, so new forms appear, and subsequently a colour palette,” says Nootk. The personal exhibition titled "Gestalt" took place at the Ruarts Foundation in 2023. The artist actively participates in festivals and projects dedicated to street culture such as the Biennale of Street Art ‘Artmossphere’ (2014, 2016), ARCA (2020), ‘Here and Now’ (2021), special project ‘Air’ as part of the First International Biannual of Environmental Art in Nizhny Novgorod (2025), etc. He features in the publications ‘Encyclopaedia of Russian Street Art’, ‘Parts of Walls’ and ‘Graffiti-ABC’, and is the author of monumental works in Russia, Spain, Italy, Lebanon and Georgia.
