IEVGEN PETROV
BREAKWATER
Exhibition “PIER” by IEVGEN PETROV, 2013-15
Hyperrealistic series of watercolors and sculpture.
Київ, вул. Фрунзе 69
+38 044 591 13 69
www.tsekh.com.ua
Any crisis, a chronic one in particular, provokes a reaction. An
artist is not an exception to this. For Petrov, this reaction is
embodied in the project “Pier” which he started back in 2013.
Under these extremely difficult circumstances there was no
surprise in the choice of the topic.
Petrov believes that as long as the language of description of
Maidan and the war is not established and is only expanding its
vocabulary, the artist’s reaction to these topics is secondary and
cannot be more relevant that the events themselves; moreover,
it resembles illustrations to a cheap magazine which does nothing
to contribute to emergence of this language. Petrov prefers to
abstract. And the pier is a perfect place for that.
Over a long period of time of working on the project Yevgen
noticed that increasingly more people appeared on the pier. The
pier, in fact as before, remained the main free attraction and the
scene of beach performance; now it has replaced a confessional
and mediation mat for people, and Petrov himself replaced the
usual story component focusing on an inanimate object for the
first time.
People are considered in the same ontological plane with seagulls,
waves, tires, and ice blocks. In the “Pier” Petrov builds an orbit
with many different equal actors where the pier is central. And
while we are watching interactions of real object behind the
curtains slightly opened by Petrov, we start to perceive this rough
piece of concrete burnt on canvas with watercolors as a sensual
object.
Geller Sasha
