The artist Andrey Olenev has finished extensive work mural "Recultivation" on the buildings of high-temperature shaft furnace of Magnezit Group. 

Andrey Olenev lives in Nizhny Novgorod, a city known for its unique street art. Olenev was one of those who formed the special language of street art in Nizhny Novgorod in the 2010s. It is his advanced technique that makes him stand out among other street artists. He thinks his compositions through down to the smallest detail, uses layering, prefers a restrained color scheme, and is passionate about allegorical subjects; therefore, his art might remind us of classical paintings. In his work, the artist focuses the city and the environment. Olenev pays close attention to the history of the place where he creates his murals. 

While staying in Satka, the artist visited quarries, production workshop and talked to the employees of the Magnezit plant. As a result, he created a collective image of an employee. 

The 4600-square-meter painting titled Recultivation is located in the facade of the building of department for the production of powders. The mural depicts the hands that protect a scion. We cannot see to whom the hands belong. Olenev often uses this artistic device in his works. Thus, the artist conveys the idea of collective responsibility. 

The mural refers to the thoughts and experiences of Satka residents and to Soviet monumental painting. The latter is an anthem to the new world construction and a worker who can do everything. But in the modern context, Olenev sees labor as each plant worker taking care of the environment and their homes on a daily basis. 

Andrey Olenev (b. 1993, lives and works in Nizhny Novgorod) is an artist, a member of the informal art association Muddlehood and a co-founder of TOLK Gallery, which has supported Nizhny Novgorod street artists since 2014. He works in various techniques (painting, pyrography, object, installation and artist's books). He is famous for his monumental murals on the facades of old houses in Nizhny Novgorod's historical center and for his multicomponent wooden objects that completely or partially disguise the painted images and provide tactile interaction. Andrey Olenev took part in the research project of the 5th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art. He has also participated ingroup and solo exhibitions, festivals and street art projects in Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, Perm and other cities around Russia. 

Source: The booklet of the 6th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art. Photo by Denis Khabibullin, Valery Vorobyov, Vasily Maksimov, Anna Dubrovskaya.