Paintings by Yevhen Petrov to be displayed in Latvia
On March 14 Latvian Municipal Gallery Riga Art Space opens an exhibition of works by the Ukrainian watercolorist from Odesa
This year Riga was chosen as the cultural capital of the European Union. With the aim to diversify the cultural landscape of the city and show support for the Ukrainian people, Riga Art Space displays Yevhen Petrov’s personal exhibition for the first time.
The idea of the project “Petrov’s Dogs” belongs to curator Maris Vitols. He was the one to highlight the theme of pets in Petrov’s work. The paintings show circumstances when an animal ends up in a situation created or provoked by humans: dog fights without rules, natural disasters, races, or games. An uncompromising critic of reality, Petrov noted once: “I paint things that irritate me in the surrounding reality, and in case with dogs, I often paint myself.” Petrov’s irony, sarcasm, and tragic thinking are present in all of his works.
Editor of French magazine Artension Pierre Souchaud commented on Petrov’s work in the article “Ruthless Watercolor” in the following way: “I discovered Petrov for myself at the last Salon d’Automne in Paris. This experience shocked me so much as if I had stumbled upon a meteorite or met an alien. His works are the true art sabotage, a destruction of dogmas and foundations, despite the modesty of artistic media.”
The quality of his two-meter wide watercolors with all aspects of a classic drawing (detailing, compositional solution, texture effects) reveal the author’s solid artistic education and experience. The project combines not only works of various periods (from 2009 to the most recent), but also works created in various techniques: oils, watercolors, and sculpture (a total of 15 works).
The project will last through April 27.
The Day’s FACT FILE
Yevhen Petrov was born in Kherson. He studied at the Hrekov Art School (1989-94) and was a student at the International Art Academy (1994-96), both in Odesa. Petrov has participated in many group projects and had a large number of personal exhibitions since 1999. Petrov’s works can be found in more than 30 art collections in the United States, France, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, and other countries. The artist has been a resident of the Kyiv Gallery of Contemporary Art TSEKH since 2007.
Newspaper output №:
№18, (2014)Section
Culture
