Иван Максимов/ Ivan Maximov

Ivan Maximov, born November 19th, 1958 is a Russian artist and animator. He worked as an engineer in a space research institute from 1982-86, but says he has always enjoyed drawing and expressing his creativity. He released his first film "From Left to Right" in 1989 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbar3nsf0_U&feature=related). The embedded video is much more recent, "Rain Down From Above."

His creative and unique style is somewhat surreal, but in a brief interview (found at http://www.printmag.com/Article/European_Illustrators_2008_Ivan_Maximov) he says that his work is not Russian specifically, but cosmopolitan. Even so, I think that some of his animations do depict certain aspects of Russian life. Due to the whimsical and surreal nature of his animations, he has been accused of using various drugs, but he strongly denies this, stating that most people are so close-minded to their own creative unconscious that they assume someone must resort to drugs in order to tap into it.

I recommend searching his name on YouTube and watching a few more of his animations, if you get the chance. They are actually quite entertaining, and make very interesting discussion topics.