At Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi — Till 21 Dec 2025

Walking into Nikas Safronov’s “Dream Vision” exhibition feels less like entering a gallery and more like stepping inside a living dream — a dream stitched with foggy memories, mystical cities, ancient myths, and a surprising amount of technology.

Yes. This art moves. It breathes. It glows.
And somehow, it still feels rooted in the past.

A Russian Artist Who Paints India Like a Myth

It has truly been the “Russian hour” in Delhi lately.
Safronov, one of Russia’s most celebrated artists, has brought 100 artworks to India — each one shaped by history, imagination, and his signature hazy dream-world textures.

Highlight:

🟣 Elephant in a Russian robe
🟣 Goddess Lakshmi between two bejewelled elephants
🟣 Varanasi ghats glowing like a cosmic river
🟣 Taj Mahal wrapped in a soft dream-mist

Paintings that feel Indian… but seen through a surreal Russian lens.

The Portraits Everyone Is Talking About

Safronov is famous for unusual portraits —
like Vladimir Putin dressed as French King Francis I,

and Marilyn Monroe in Elizabethan fashion, posing against the Hollywood sign.

“I capture not the face, but the psychology — the story behind the person,”
Safronov says.

Highlight:

Art for him is a character study, not a beauty contest.

A Childhood of Castles, Knights & Dreams

Growing up in Ulyanovsk, little Nikas sketched castles and knights endlessly.
Later, he copied the dramatic illustrations of Gustave Doré, fell in love with
Rabelais and Don Quixote, and dreamt up worlds that didn’t exist.

And then came the dream that changed everything.

He dreamt of walking through an exhibition of paintings he had never created —
led by an old man, a figure who eventually revealed himself as Leonardo da Vinci, tossing a glowing sphere into the artist’s hands.

That dream convinced him he was meant to paint.

Cities Across Seasons

Among the 100 artworks are scenes from around the world:

Highlight:

🟢 Kremlin on Easter
🟢 Venice in a July haze
🟢 Vatican in spring bloom
🟢 St. Petersburg in autumn gold

And then — India, painted like a whispering legend.

TECHNOLOGY + ART = A NEW DIMENSION

Here’s where the magic truly begins.

Safronov embraces technology not as competition,
but as a creative partner.

In this exhibition, you’ll see:

🔹 Multimedia projections
🔹 LED & volumetric screens
🔹 Neuro-mirrors
🔹 Animated paintings
🔹 Smart lighting that reacts to you

The artworks glow, shift, and softly melt into each other —
just the way dreams do.

Highlight:

The sound.
A spatial audio system wraps around visitors,
guiding emotions the way a film soundtrack guides a story.

The Birth of the “Dream Vision” Style

It began decades ago — in Pompeii.

Safronov saw the half-erased frescoes,
the frozen tragedy,
the ghost stories buried under volcanic ash.

Later, a fog-covered sunrise in Venice made everything click.
The fading buildings, blurred water, and dissolving sky became the essence of his style:

Art that looks like a dream you try to remember —
but that slowly melts away.

ART AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN NATIONS

For Safronov, art is not decoration —
it’s diplomacy.

He believes art can soften borders, open hearts, and build bridges where politics cannot.

Earlier this year, he gifted a painting to Pope Francis, who supported his idea of cultural diplomacy through art.

Highlight:

“An artist,” Safronov says,
“is a mediator — someone who connects what seems unconnectable.”

WHY INDIA? WHY NOW?

Safronov calls this exhibition a tribute to India —
a land he says has “an ancient soul that speaks in colours.”

His India-inspired works echo mythology, architecture, sacred rivers, and spiritual stories.

Russia, through this exhibition, is reaching out culturally, bypassing politics and speaking through emotion.

100 Paintings. 15 Zones. One Immersive Journey.

The exhibition unfolds like a cinematic experience:

What you witness:

•  Classical painting
•  Symbolism
•  Landscapes
•  Dream Vision glows
•  Digital transformation

Technology doesn’t overpower the art —
it amplifies it.

You don’t just look at the painting.

You enter it.

FINAL THOUGHT

If you’re in Delhi, don’t miss this.

It’s not every day that an exhibition lets you walk inside a painting —
or lets you see your own culture reflected through the dreamy eyes of another.

‘Dream Vision’ is exactly what its name promises —
a dream you can step into.