Instagram: @dmitrr
Followers: Almost 8,500
Who: Dmitry Popov
Current location: St. Petersburg, Russia
Occupation: Artist
The gist: Popov’s Instagram transports you into some sort of a through-the-looking-glass universe. The Russian artist uses his body as a canvas to create eerily beautiful images that play with ideas of purity and sex.
What you’ll find: In one instance, he sports an asymmetrical schoolchildren’s uniform that’s partially made from lace, revealing his exposed leg and frilly ankle sock. (Cheeky!) In another image, he mimics the robes of a royal monk-like figure, draped in fabric, and poses in the makeshift headgear of a churchgoing woman. Other standout looks include embellished upholstery as a tunic and a tulle mermaid tail.
There’s a deeper message: There’s more to say about Popov’s fairy-tale aesthetic. Take one image where the Russian word for “love” is glued onto Popov’s chest, a black glove across his body shows “only” in script, and the flap of a torn T-shirt reveals the word “yourself.” Bizarre, sure, but it’s meaningful. “My art is idolization (cult) of myself expressed in nudity, crime, garbage, and luxury. I want to tell people that everyone is a ‘Piece of Art,’ everyone can do something interesting from their everyday life. I don’t think it’s something extraordinary. It’s just my view . . .” writes Popov. “My art gives me a chance to be everyone and everything I want. Like yesterday I was a sculpture or garbage, and today I’m a mermaid or Jesus.“
Popov has his own bridal week: Popov loves a good matrimonial moment. Sometimes, he acts as both a bride and groom in a black suit that is bursting with a wedding dress, while a risqué down-the-aisle look includes a literal mullet gown that covers Popov’s backside with a lace veil. As for the front, well, that’s nonexistent from the shoulders down.
There’s fashion cameos: Popov knows his clothing labels. He’s sported Vetements as well as Gosha Rubchinskiy. (In the past, he’s also worked with Lotta Volkova.) Additionally, he’s also a fan of Gucci, often tagging the label or Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele’s Instagram handle, @lallo25, in his otherworldly granny-magpie uploads.
Does that cardboard suit look familiar? Back in October, Popov stood on top of a stool in a lush field and posed in a massive trompe l’oeil–style cardboard suit. He created it by using discarded furniture boxes laying around his apartment. “It took three weeks to realize what I wanted to make from a carton,” writes Popov. “I don’t know how I came to this idea, but I’m sure that I saw almost the same at at least two fashion shows.” What runways could Popov be talking about? The look recalls a suit that appeared in the Thom Browne Fall 2017 collection.
Let’s talk about Russia and censorship: The country is well-known for not being too kind toward certain types of self-expression, which includes Popov’s often scantily clad body. Last week, he posted a photograph that featured an image that dipped below his torso, captioned with: “And I wanna thank our government for not giving me a chance to be free in self-expression. And I really can’t understand how we [are] gonna become an example for others if the most evident distinctive feature of social norms is suppression of everything that is more than just ‘has a place to be.’ I won’t talk too much but I just want this pic to be here and try to realize what’s wrong with it.” There are also rainbow cameos in the form of barely there tinsel suits or as the hue in a backdrop. Popov approaches criticism—from the Russian government or his comments section—with a level head. “My art can be censored in social networks,” he writes, “but I always have a right to be free in doing what I want to do and being whom I want to be.” We agree.
Fun fact: Popov is from Salekhard, a Siberian town located in the Arctic Circle.