Astrakhan artist Sh. A.-Kh. Taktashev’s <i>parallel realism</i> (to the 75th anniversary of his birth)

The characteristic features of works of the Astrakhan artist Shamil Abdul-Khamitovich Taktashev (1949-2011) include their own formal solutions, peculiar symbolism, internal intellectual energy and an appeal to the associativity of the viewer’s thinking. In the 1990s, striving to gain his creative identity, the artist turned to the original language of painting, characterizing his art as parallel realism. This article traces the main stages of the artist’s life and work, reveals the essence of his artistic style. An attempt has been made to reconstruct the meaning that the master put into the concept of parallel realism basing on Sh. A.-Kh. Taktashev’s interviews, drafts of his unpublished articles and essays, as well as on some plots, images and techniques of paintings created during the studied period.