Inspired by kitsch and cheap printing products like postcards Petrov mostly depicts private life episodes of Soviet people, naive interpretation turns the plot to dream, unreal but desirable situation. This is objectified irrationally collective of Soviet body, archetype of happiness, love and beauty, that artist release from anonymous lower characters like turning humble ferals into beautiful garden georginas.

But in the situation with propagandistic work, when characters have no flowers in hands but sheets with profiles of leaders on them, his manner is changing a lot and is closer to sots art. And then the artist presents paintings with shine and ring of orchestra plates instead of sentimental half-dreams. So in patriotic composition “Buttons” courteous image of painting changes to official pompous. However one can remind 1989 when nostalgia for Soviet parades was not encouraged for example on the show of public dissent in Tbilisi 9th of April this painting looks as rough anti-war critics.

The artistic device to stick a real object to canvas is widely used in postmodern painting. American artist and stage manager Julian Schnabel glued the broken pieces of dishes, skins and other things to canvas. Painting in this case lose its density and perceive as transfer picture on the object body. But it is not about the device itself, it is about realization, the base of the effect. In the case with Arkady Petrov device gives the title to the painting. Buttons, shine metal dots are all around the canvas surface, like some kind of special police smallpox and remove any hope for deep and sincere emotions to see on depicted faces. V