Photo painting Anton Solomoukha

Anton (Anatole) P. Solomoukha (November 2, 1945 – 21 October 2015) was a Ukrainian-born French artist and photographer, and a foreign member of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. From 1980 he specialized in narrative figuration. After 2000 he developed photo projects and is known as the inventor of a new form of expression in contemporary photography: “Photo painting”. In it he associates the photographic image with pictorial research in tableaux frequently requiring a multitude of models.

 In search of new expressive means, a new visual language Solomoukha-painter more often use photograph. In 1990, he got acquainted with Robert Doisneau. In 1995, for a long time Solomukha is working on drawing with Henri Cartier-Bresson. Both acquentances strongly influenced Anton's decision to devote himself to photography which since 2002 has become his principal sphere of creativity.

The first series; “The girl with the cup-and-ball”, “The Sex of Angels”, “I Fuck Your TV” are characterized by the choice of a closed space and a dark background. He uses mirrors, as ‘a complementary character’ for the construction of a subject, ironic or poetic, inspired by historical myths and the biblical subjects. His obsession with these projects has evolved into a rejection of temporal social topics. His relationship with painting appears more and more and was the principal theme of a series of photo compositions in the monumental style: “Little Red Riding Hood visits the Louvre”. Although these big square “panoramic” compositions are technically photographs, in reality they are projected and constructed as if they were painted pictures. “Photo-painting” has a role to play in the creation of a new contemporary art form.
Mona Lisa di Antonio Maria (Antonmaria) Gherardini del Giocondo

‘The photographic ‘paintings’ of this series are theatrical. The backgrounds are dark. The foregrounds are filled by actors: characters from the streets of Paris interposed with naked models, animals and elements of still life. An infinite number of small objects are strewn on the ground and cover the walls. The theatrical tableaux style of this collection enabled the artist to break with the traditional photographic image and create a paradoxical metaphysical space. In them, each character, as in an opera, plays a part while remaining an independent element, related to the other characters only if the artist wills it! In 2009 Anton Solomoukha continues to refer to classical art in his project “Little Red Riding Hood visits Tchernobyl”. His preference for “ironic allegory” allows him to create works in a form reminiscent of paintings in the Louvre, morbid scenes of the Tchernobyl .Wikipedia