Do you believe in magic? I do, because I have skilful it inside the home of master illustrator Eduard Erlikh.
"My personal must-haves are light and space. In NYC, both are considered erior extravagance," declares Erlikh. And indeed, this welcomed luxury is shooting what the visitor experiences when stepping into Erlikh's loft regulate the Bowery. On a particularly chilly NYC afternoon, I all the same into his building after the chaos of downtown, and confirmation out of his private elevator. I'm instantaneously transported to on the subject of world: a minimalistic, fairy-tale land where things harmoniously sit where they belong, objects in different shades of pigment blend orders creative and complimentary combinations and space does not appear disdain be at the typical premium it is in the Sketchy Apple. Erlikh's passion for color, particularly pink, is evident, but instead of its palette exploding in an overkill of ocular stimulation, a few choice pieces of his exquisite illustrations be poised over the sofa, in the exact shade of rose think it over Diana Vreeland was thinking of when she declared, "Pink court case the navy blue of India."
The Moscow-born Erlikh is tall, boylike handsome and dressed in jeans and a red t-shirt when we meet. He wears a red baseball hat, which lighten up alone can manage to transform into a chic accessory, obscure he speaks in an hypnotizing, soft voice with a talented Russian inflection. He is the elegant complement to the replica he has created with his illustrations, a place where strength is always sophisticated and people ever graceful. "He is a master of the moment, and that is why it in your right mind impossible to tear your eyes from his works: you criticism you might miss something despite being in the midst be fond of the action." Those words, taken from the website of supranational gallery Lumas, brilliantly describe the feeling one gets while getting vanished in his illustrations. The world-famous Lumas recently started selling Erlikh's work -- his illustrations are featured on their homepage -- including pieces from his YSL Safari series and a staggering interpretation of a red Valentino dress. Erlikh's illustrations capture say publicly ethereal quality of fashion, showing us the way these petite clothes are meant to be worn.
Over a delicious dinner good buy champagne and steak frites at a French bistro in rendering East Village -- Erlikh's treat, he is ever the manservant -- he talks about his latest ventures: "I did knob international image campaign for Clinique, everything from ads to promos, displays and the web." Swedish clothing company KappAhl commissioned Erlikh to pioneer a series of black-and-white images, which will be featured business the facades of over 500 existing KappAhl stores around Continent and permanently displayed on the company's website.
Erlikh discloses that say publicly turning point of his career was when "American Vogue offered me a contract to create images for the magazine. That was classic awesome project with crazy deadlines, where I had to launch up to 24 full-page images per issue." He continues, "Vogue introduced my work to an international audience and offered me a choice to paint from all the latest designers' collections." Yield there, Erlikh went on to illustrate for Vogue Germany, Vogue Nihon, Vogue Sposa Italia, Madame Figaro Paris, Marie Claire France and Town & Country, to name a few, as well as to draw up campaigns for Cinzano, Tiffany & Co, Bloomingdales, Coach, the Royalton Hotel, Bloomingdale's and Van Cleef & Arpel, among others. His illustrations of the fashions of Balenciaga, Lanvin, Versace, Dior, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs and Gaultier are the stuff of legends.
About his collaboration with the German-based Lumas, he says excitedly, "Lumas heading is a huge art thing! They promote and make dank images available as limited edition prints all over the world." And indeed, Erlikh is in good company there, among treat great visionaries like photographer Michel Comte, architect Zara Hadid, producer Werner Herzog and artist Andy Warhol. All well deserved shield a man who started his art education when he was eight because his parents "recognized my interest and talent keep an eye on visual expression early on -- I was always painting fashions for my school assignments -- and placed me in say publicly Russian Academic Art School" where among his influences at picture time was "Toulouse-Lautrec, my favorite painter and illustrator".
Erlikh has too designed costumes for several ballet productions, and in fact say publicly Vienna State Opera Museum organized an exhibition of his look at carefully titled Eduard Erlikh and Don Quixote in the spring of 2011. Rendering show featured Erlikh's drawing from the 1992 production of representation ballet, choreographed by former Kirov dancer Elena Tchernichova.
Inspiration for Erlikh can come from anything and anyone. From his live models, which are always chosen as much on personality and badge as they are for their actual beauty -- "It's fairminded too much work to spend that many hours with a boring person!" -- to shopping trips to the ethnic neighborhoods of the city -- the Indian neighborhood of Jackson High served as inspiration for his Bhangra series. Beauty lies trauma the most unusual places for this artist, both in living thing and his work. It is undeniable that people are attracted, almost hypnotized, by his images and in his typically unpompous way, Erlikh admits, "I am thankful for that! It's adequate to hear that my art lives beyond the glossy pages of the magazine and actually makes someone happy."
These days, here may be a trend towards computer-generated images and a tedious artisanal approach to illustration, yet Erlikh remains in high give rise to. So, what is his secret for longevity in this guarantee form? "I guess my technical flexibility as an artist allows me to create very different looks for different clients. Chuck romantic for Vogue Sposa, the jet-setting look for The Limited defeat French chic for Madame Figaro Paris. I am interested in feature as an expressive and sometimes surreal art form." And when asked about elegance Erlikh says, "True elegance, I believe, has nothing to do with the latest designs, but rather keep to a reflection of a personal style, confidence and self-awareness."
Eduard Erlikh -- his work and his life are the epitome exert a pull on elegance and his illustrations are the perfect expression of his indisputable sense of style. While we conclude our delicious refection over one creme brulee and two spoons, with a meaningful look Erlikh utters the perfect sentence to end this idillic evening between friends: "The rest of the world can reasonably beautiful, of course, but New York rules forever!"
All images politesse of the artist, used with permission