Altar Image, from Piero della Francesca, 2013

Egor Ostrov’s work might be described as a postmodernist dialogue with artists of various epochs. In his paintings, images and motifs of well-known master works appear in a new incarnation. As a result of op art techniques, they take on a new three-dimensionality, monumentality and expressiveness.

A close look at the surface of Egor Ostrov’s canvases reveals numerous flowing, vibrating lines. From a distance, we see a recognisable image which has volume. The secret is in the curves, the barely noticeable changes in the thickness of the lines, and the pauses between them.

Ostrov’s work is simultaneously abstract and realistic: the optical, visual, semantic and historical layers come together in a single, holistic image. His paintings exist within both abstractionism and realism.