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Maxim Bondarenko, Burning It, 2025


CULTUREEDIT ART AUCTION #8
Maxim Bondarenko
Maxim Bondarenko, Burning It, 2025

Condition: New
$700.00

Details

Oil pastel on black paper

12" x 18"

"Burning It" is an oil pastel drawing on black paper where the figure and the “crown” almost fuse into one weather system. A nude male body stands in the lower center, arms crossed tight over the chest. The pose is defensive and tender at the same time—self-embrace as shield, self-embrace as need. The black paper isn’t just a background; it’s night, heat, and silence. Above the shoulders, the head disappears into a dense, flame-like mass. Yellows and ochres climb upward in looping, smoky strokes, while reds, violets, greens, and electric blues gather around the sides like burning flowers or a storm of petals. The color feels alive and unstable, as if it’s still moving. The body is drawn with warm browns and pale highlights that catch on muscle and rib, with cool outlines that vibrate against the dark ground. The contrast makes skin feel both physical and haunted—present, but half swallowed by light. In the context of a gay artist’s work, **Burning It** reads as desire under pressure: intimacy turned inward, beauty turning volatile, the private body meeting something bigger than it can hold. The piece doesn’t illustrate a story. It holds a state—heat, fear, want, release—and lets the viewer recognize it.

Ships from  Sacramento, CA

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CULTUREEDIT ART AUCTION #8

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Maxim Bondarenko

Maxim Bondarenko is a Russian artist based in Sacramento, California. He was born in Soviet Union, and lived in Moscow before the country’s political climate turned increasingly repressive towards gay people. Max relocated to the U.S., where he rediscovered his creative inspiration. During his time in America, he had few collective exhibitions and one solo show in Sacramento in 2022. Maxim’s work is rooted in academic art traditions and Impressionism, with a deep focus on color. He views color theory almost like a religion—it’s central to his practice and the lens through which he approaches every piece, seeing evidence of the Transcendental in it. He is fascinated by the clashes between warm and cool values and the dynamic tension of complementary colors, which he believes hold a unique, almost spiritual power. In his love of paradoxes, he often commits to pointillistic analysis of ephemeral optical illusions applied to the male physique, contrasting this with the viscous, bright, and vivacious impasto qualities of his flowers - two favorite subjects. While his art celebrates the beauty and sensuality of color, he also invites the viewer to pause and reflect “between pixels.” He hopes his work offers not just a visual escape, but also a subtle commentary on reality and a resistance to conformity.

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