For more than twenty years the duet of two St.-Petersburg artists Semichov and Kuzmin has existed as a completely hermetic phenomenon. It is no coincidence that the large-scale exhibition of their gloomy paintings is called "Neophobia" — a term for a pathological fear of any changes.

The grotesque world of "Semichov–Kuzmin" is reigned by timelessness reminiscent of the turbulent 30's of the XX century. Stumpy men with earthy faces look from the paintings passionate with mysterious practices of mindless digging or spontaneous ecstatic dancing somewhere in the mountains. Fantastic portraits of meek and sad creatures look dramatic next to the multifigured compositions and reveal the conflict of inner world and aggressive hysteria of society.