Cyland Foundation Inc.
ARE PROUD TO PRESENT:
FOUR CORNERS. CONTEMPORARY ART OF BELARUS
in the LUDA Gallery, St Petersburg, Russia
5-16 NOVEMBER, 2014
Mokhovaya 42, St Petersburg, Russia
+ 7 999 034 60 99
+ 7 911 968 64 84
The exhibition “Four Corners” presents four authors working in Belarus: Mikhail Gulin, Sergei Shabokhin, Roman Aksyonov, Karen Karnak. The exhibition does not set itself the task of making a full-fledged cross-section of Belarusian art; that would be too pretentious a task. My task was to select some authors who operate in the format of another country. Since I was born, raised and studied in Belarus, I somehow have an idea about the artistic processes in Minsk and other cities of the Republic. However, I realized that I can no longer objectively evaluate and understand the artistic situation in the Republic of Belarus. One way or another, I call on artists who are on the surface, who declare themselves, act, exhibit and take an active part in the cultural process. An important aspect of the choice was the geography of the artist’s presence in the Republic. Many Belarusian authors operate outside of Belarus, achieve success, implement projects and often show their art as part of “Belarusian art” projects. This project is aimed at artists who are at a short distance from the Belarusian social climate. Each of the presented authors chooses their own strategy and their own path of development based on taste, interests, political views… This exhibition is not a monolithic series of like-minded people, but four different creative strategies and their strategists – artists. Remembering my part of life in Belarus, I remember that in a small country there are always different vectors for development, which are most often associated with leaving. Left, right, middle, or staying where you are, as if at a crossroads, is a constant choice. My art school group dispersed in all directions, some in the west, some in the east, and a few remained in Belarus. For me, the most interesting thing is the development of artists who are in the Republic today. In this project, it is more interesting for me to see artists who create and think, who decide what is more important for them personally to show than to build a project that can be understood by the St. Petersburg public. My role in the project is to be useful to artists and nothing more.
Semyon Motolyanets
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