'Unity Day' Moscow

At first glance merely a neon cityscape, 'Unity Day' Moscow shows on closer inspection young Russian nationalists in a uniform of camouflage and turn-up trousers on their annual, usually violent march through central Moscow. In the foreground a black newspaper seller is being attacked as gamblers, gourmets, night workers and passers by watch blankly. Riot police look on distractedly in the background. This painting shows my memory of seeing the event in 2008, the casinos are now all restaurants, but many more nationalists emerge each year for Unity Day parades. Painted in phosphorescent acrylic, and much more detailed than the JPEG shows, this image absorbs daylight and glows in the dark.