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Lev Khesin: when art becomes fashionable
15/12/2021

Lev Khesin: when art becomes fashionable


di Elisabetta Roncati

Can contemporary art and haute couture go hand in hand?

Of course they do, as the artist Lev Khesin shows us.
Born in 1981 in Pensa, Russia, as the son of an artist couple, Lev has been the protagonist of Berluti A/W 2021-2022 collection. The former creative director of the LVMH luxury leather brand, Kris Van Assche, chose Khesin because his artistic techniques remember the maison's distinctive techniques and fabrications. Abstract shapes, tactical models created with various colored layers of silicone paint recall the craftsmanship of the Berluti patina, creating a natural connection between the visions and practices of the artist and the maison.
Lev currently lives in Berlin, where he graduated from the Universität der Künste in 2007.
He has also completed many study trips in the US and Japan: that’s why he often compares painting with the art of archery and various Zen rituals focused exclusively on the current action. "The image becomes evidence of a completed meditation", he says.
His technique is really particular, focused on the use of silicone: the semitransparent image surfaces change constantly, sharing with the audience really particular feelings.
However it will be Lev himself to explain us his artistic path in the next rows.


E.R. You grew up in a family devoted to art and culture, your parents were icon painters: how this environment influenced your artistic path?

L.K. You are almost right: at the time of my childhood and early youth both of my parents were artists but they hadn’t begun with icon painting yet. Most of their friends were artists too. One can’t deny this influence of course. Another influence was my grandfather, who was a chief engineer of ahuge factory in Penza that built diesel motors for ships and locomotives. When I think about it now, I understand why my current creative process is a mixture of painter’s traditional approach and engineer’s technical approach. I use a lot of materials and tools that are rather “industrial”.





E.R. Can we trace a connection with the tradition of Russian icons in your current artistic practice?

L.K. Although the subject of icon painting differs very much from the subject I work with, there are some undeniable parallels. 3D materiality, wooden boards (that I use as a base for paintings) and my layering painting technique that loosely resembles the traditional tempera painting approach.


E.R. You work with silicone, a soft material, stiring the pigments into the transparent mass prior and during the painting process. Sometimes you help yourself with spatulas and squeegees. It’s a quite unusual and long process. Can you describe it to us?

L.K. This process always differ, but generally speaking the firm panel (usually wood or aluminum) underneath the paint is the supporting “skeleton.” The first layers are often applied thickly, and after several layers the color concentrates itself in certain spots more than in others. Partly it is planned, but sometimes it’s left to chance. Taken together, these layers are the “meat” of a work. I analyse this sum of intentional and non-intentional vectors and then I add the “skin": several thinner glazes that don’t always cover the entire painting.


E.R. Have some great masters of the art history influenced your path? If so, which ones?

L.K. If we are speaking about old masters, than it’s without doubt J.M.W. Turner.






E.R. In some previous interviews you have compared painting with the art of archery and with various Zen rituals: why?

L.K. It was quite a long time ago. Around 2012 – 2014 I was indeed into Kyudo, traditional Japanese archery. After couple of years I gave it up though. Maybe because it was too similar to what I do in my studio? The things Kyudo and my painting process has in common is that both are very slow and the perfection of the process itself (in Kyudo the preparation for each shot takes several minutes) means more than the result.


E.R. Can you describe us an artwork currently shown on the Artsail platform, where you are represented by ARTEA Gallery, which best reproduces your creative philosophy?

L.K. Misquoting the words of Frank Zappa: "Writing about art is like dancing about architecture". I’m not sure what I should say about any single of those artworks but in general I’d say they all contain some contradictions in themself. I wanted them to be attractive and repellent, controlled and chaotic, flat and deep at the same time.


E.R. You recently developed a men haute couture collection with the important maison Berluti. How is your relationship with the fashion world?

L.K. Some exhibition dedicated to fashion I’ve seen were quite inspiring. Like the massive Chanel retrospective I saw in Metropolitan Museum in New York in 2005, or a very nice permanent fashion collection in Berlin’s Kunstgewerbemuseum. The most inspiring one was probably the exhibition dedicated to three decades of Japanese fashion I saw in Munich in 2011.





E.R. 2021 is coming to an end. Can you reveal us some of your 2022 artistic projects?

L.K. I’ll continue to research the interaction of light and matter not only with transparent silicon, my primary material, but also by building some video sculptures and making some lenticular prints.




Born in Genoa, Milanese by adoption, Elisabetta Roncati decided to combine her university education in economics and management with her passion for culture with a goal: bringing people closer to the art market in a clear, easily understandable and professional way. Interested in all forms of artistic and cultural expressions, contemporary and otherwise, she has two great passions: textile art and African art. As an art consultant, she firmly believes that culture has the power to transcend the boundaries of individual nations, creating a global community of art lovers. In 2018 he founded the registered trademark Art Nomade Milan that she uses to speak about art and culture on the main social media platforms.

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