AES+F is a group of Russian contemporary artists made up of Tatiana Arzamasova (b.1955), Lev Evzovich (b.1958), Evgeny Svyatsky (b.1957), and Vladimir Fridkes (b. 1956). The Moscow-based group was originally called AES (based on the artists'' initials) at the time of its formation in 1987, when it did not include Fridkes. The "+F" was added in 1995, when Fridkes became a member. Arzamasova and Evzovich graduated from Moscow Architectural Institute in 1978 and 1982, respectively. Svyatsky is a 1980 graduate of the Moscow University of Printing Arts, while records show that Fridkes has no formal education.
The group''s main focus is photography, but they have also been known to produce video and computer-based art, as well as drawings, paintings, and sculptures. Their works are featured in the collections of well-known Russian and European museums, including The State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, the Multimedia Art Center in Moscow, Les Abattoirs in Paris, and the Goetz Collection in Munich. AES+F''s video, Last Riot, was shown at the 2007 Venice Biennale and features violent scenes of an imagined future depicting dragons roosting on oil platforms, starkly contrasting landscapes, and young people living a brutal and lawless existence. This work would prove to be one of their better-known pieces, and would eventually grow into a trilogy, along with the later Feast of Trimalchio (2009) and Allegoria Sacra (2011).
The works of AES+F are represented by the Volker Diehl Gallery in Berlin, the Anna Schwartz Gallery in Melbourne, the Has Knoll Gallery in Vienna, the Triumph Gallery in Moscow, the Ruzicska Gallery in Salzburg, the Charlotte Moser Gallery in Geneva, the Arario Gallery in Beijing, the SEM-Art Gallery in Monaco, the Loop Gallery in South Korea, the Juan Ruiz Gallery in Venezuela, and the Art Statements Gallery in Hong Kong. All four artists live and work in Moscow, as they have done throughout their careers.