From Moscow to Osaka, Timur Fok’s “plasticine realism” continues to attract attention. In recent years, the Russian painter, who got his start in the street art world, has developed a unique specialty in works that capture the textures and colors of child-friendly modeling clay (Plasticine). His scenes blur the lines between hyperrealism and surrealism while maintaining a happy, childlike quality that appears on the sides of buildings and on canvases. In a recent group exhibition at Agni Gallery in Bangkok, he was invited to hold his first international solo exhibition, which will be held in autumn 2025.
For Falk, the recognition has been a long time coming. Around the turn of the twentieth century, the artist was deeply inspired by the graffiti that began to appear on the streets of Russia. “All I did was dream about inscriptions and words on street walls,” he said. “I wanted the whole area to be covered with my labels and drawings.”
While Falk did learn to graffiti, he also saw the limitations of painting secretly on the street. “Subculture has a certain framework, which on the one hand forms my style, but at the same time it doesn’t allow me to deviate from the established rules,” he explains. “For example, you have to use only aerosols. For a long time, I only painted with aerosols and no brushes because when you’re painting illegal graffiti, there’s just no time for that.”
Falk left his mark in his native Moscow and other cities, but in 2017, his life and art unexpectedly changed direction. When the artist fell while painting, he suffered a head injury that left him deaf in one ear. His lengthy recovery—he spent about six months recovering in hospital and at home—prompted him to reevaluate his art. “That’s when I realized the value of family because my family was very supportive,” he said. “I realized that this whole ‘game’ was temporary and that my work had little meaning, but there was a lot of aggression and you needed to work towards the inner content of the work.”
When Falk was able to paint again, he turned to canvas and described these early works as being very minimalist. “I paint them for myself, to express my emotions in some way,” he said. “I was surprised when my work started getting acquired. I was surprised that what was in it could really touch people.”
For Faulk, it was a revealing moment. “I had never tried to make money with my art before. Street art was my outlet from the beginning,” he said. “I love the party and being a part of the game and during the day I play a character and at night I’m like a superhero and I have an alter ego named after me and it’s everywhere. When you’re young it’s cool to have an alter ego, but when you get older you don’t really promote it.”
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