It's hard to speak about the contemporary St. Petersburg art without mention of legendary artist Ivan Sotnikov. Starting his path with the well-known "Zero object" in 1982, Sotnikov was trying to defeat the routine, bringing the idea of game in life. He lived and worked as a true neo-expressionist and avant-gardist, a collector of visual folklore of his own time and a real master of colour.

The exhibition "Selected" is a collection of the most brilliant paintings by the artist. The show can be considered as an attempt to recreate the panorama of creative interests not only of the author himself, but also of like-minded people close to him. The artist actively participated in the artistic life of Leningrad in 1980-90s. He was a member of well-known artistic associations and recognised the influence on his art of the notable Alexander Aref’ev’s circle.

This show represents the main landmarks of the 35-year-old creative path of the master: from the art groups "New Artists" and "Mitki" to a later Montenegrin period, from conceptual series to picturesque landscapes. Rising up from the centre of the exhibition hall the art object "The Rocket" and the mobile object "Skeleton", the series "Computer games" and "Diamond cutting" — all these works by Sotnikov ironically and subtly reflect the post-Soviet epoch.