Featured Artist: Gotoup

Gotoup, or Alexander Medvedev, hopes that his designs make people smile. His cheerful motto of “smile, not war” is reflected in the upbeat and lively designs he showcases like a pizza bird, a sloth snoozing through the finish lane, or a scandalous and hilarious encounter with a fridge. Each graphic is the perfect reminder to approach life with fresh eyes and a lot of laughter.

Gotoup, from Moscow, Russia, appreciates the allure of a big city because of the “famous museums, theaters, art galleries and exhibitions.” He believes that having everything at his fingertips can mean that his head “is always full of different ideas. It is like a boiling pot.” In fact, when he is not able to express his ideas through art, it can even feel like his head will explode. However, he shares, “I do not expect inspiration” and instead he lets his ideas “somehow appear in my crazy brain.” Gotoup imagines what he wants to draw before he starts, yet he is never certain of what style the piece of art will take until he watches it unfold.

Alexander’s favorite work is entitled the “Girl With Peaches” by the Russian painter, Valentin Alexandrovich Serov. He is also interested in 19th-century Impressionist artists and would love the chance to be “an invisible man” watching the Impressionists at work. He similarly loves to explore new  artists and is “constantly learning from other people” and using it to improve upon his own art.