Exhibition of People's Artist of the Russian Federation Nikas Safronov ‘Big Love for St. Petersburg’

The exhibition of People's Artist of the Russian Federation Nikas Safronov ‘Big Love for St. Petersburg’ was held from 20 August to 31 October 2024 at the Peter and Paul Fortress.
The concept of the exhibition is a combination of classical painting, the latest technologies and contemporary art. The artist's works were complemented by multimedia installations and light effects, owing to which static paintings were transformed into dynamic stories of augmented reality.
The centre of the exposition are the works in the unique author's style ‘Dream Vision’, combining realism and surrealism. The intersection point between the artist's creative vision and current social processes is the art object ‘Freedom’, which centres on a portrait of Pavel Durov created in the context of his detention by the French authorities. In this work, Nikas Safronov reflects on freedom in the world in general and on the Internet in particular through the image of the media entrepreneur.
In 73 days, more than 156,000 people visited this visual interactive attraction. Italian film diva Ornella Muti and ‘The Magnificent Century’ star Burak Özçivit arrived especially for the exhibition, People's Artists of Russia Mikhail Boyarsky and Maria Mironova performed at the vernissage, and Pasha Technique together with millionaire bloggers Ilya Satir and Dima Gordey helped to organise a charity auction, all the money from which was donated to a local foundation.