Alexander Mikhailovich Fedoseyev is a painter and one of the leading artists and teachers of Chuvashia. He was born on April 24, 1958, in Cheboksary. In 1977, he graduated from the Cheboksary Art School and then in 1983 — from the art department of the Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He also studied at the studio of the academician Boris Sergeyevich Ugarov. Fedoseyev specializes in plot-driven and thematic canvases, as well as portrait paintings with deep philosophical overtones. He has a pronounced manner of painting that echoes that of the “austere style”. Alexander Fedoseyev has been teaching at the Cheboksary Art College since 1983. He became an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation in 2006.

“Fog and People” is one of the artist’s most important works, reflecting the view of life people had in the early 1990s. Here, the painter uses one of his signature techniques — the fragmentation of reality. One canvas encompasses events that happened at different times, and yet the integrity of perception is not violated, with the semantic context becoming ambiguous.

To the left, on a broken, rain-soaked poster stand, there are several images — these are keys to the story, providing possible answers to unuttered questions. A reproduction of Pieter Bruegel’s painting “The Blind Leading the Blind” represents the worst prediction that refers the viewer to the biblical parable of the blind. Jesus said,

Which certainly described spiritual blindness. The most frightening image here is not the sight of the fallen leader, but the faces of the walking blind with empty eye sockets, showing no trace of a soul.

The second image shows George the Victorious in “The Miracle of St George and the Dragon”. The icon depicts the battle between good and evil. The holiness of the great martyr shines through his face, he represents the image of God, and the dragon, an evil spirit “with emptiness inside”, is opposed to him. With the outcome of this battle and the victory of light over darkness in mind, both the characters in the picture and the audience can hope for a happy ending.

But the choice has not yet been made, and one of the characters, who turns out to be the artist himself, addresses the viewer with his silent question.