Misha Nikatin is a visual artist born in 1986 and based in Moscow. He observes his surroundings and makes subtle artistic notes based on inner feelings. His themes are centred around images found online and memories captured in places he has been before. He focuses on the aesthetics and fleeting beauty of simple objects, capturing among the mundane a certain beauty, sincere, immediate and often fragile. Misha depicts ordinary and familiar objects that rarely arrest the casual gaze. This perspective of his is akin to the Dutch masters of the 17th century, who focused on daily life, small-scale still lifes, and landscapes.
In Misha’s works the aesthetic side of an artwork is just as important as its concept. Over the years of creative practice, the artist has developed a distinct signature style. Each work contains a text field that states the title, year and dimensions, and becomes an integral part of the overall composition. Nikatin’s works are marked by economical compositions where objects are not only protagonists in a plot but also self-sufficient stories in themselves. By painting a limited set of objects on a monochrome background, the artist focuses viewers’ attention exclusively on the objects, trying to convey the fleeting beauty of reality. The artist’s personal outlook allows the audience to think about their own experience of living common situations and states.