LONDON.- Erarta Galleries London presents a selection of new and recent works by Vladimir Ovchinnikov. One of the most significant artists to emerge from St. Petersburg during the Soviet era, Vladimir Ovchinnikov is known for his paintings that blur the boundaries between realism and surrealism, fusing together contemporary Russian subject matter with magical, fantastic elements, often derived from myth and religion. His distinctively rotund, heavy-bodied, yellow-skinned figures have a primeval, statuesque quality, as if stemming from ancient monuments or religious icons – and yet at the same time his works also allude to social and political conditions, vividly satirizing contemporary mores, and puncturing the hypocrisy and spiritual bankruptcy at the heart of everyday life.