“Gogol is Born” project to be exhibited in NYC

The Ukrainian graphic artist Serhii Yakutovych has spent five years on the project “Gogol is Born” in commemoration of the 200th jubilee of the author of Dead Souls. The exposition consists of more than 80 graphic works and life-size models of Gogol’s characters. Put together, they create a single Gogol’s space.

After launching this project at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on April 1 this year (Nikolai Gogol’s birthday), it was displayed in the Ukrainian Home in Kyiv and later in the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Moscow.

In the fall it was transferred to Lviv. On February 4 it will be displayed for three days at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York and will then tour other American cities. According to Yakutovych and the curator Pavlo Hudimov, it looks as if the exhibit is reborn in every new locality — it seems to absorb some of the local features.

“This project looks and works differently in different places. In Lviv it looked totally different than in Kyiv, and in Moscow it was different from Paris. We appear to have adopted the right concept. It reflects Gogol’s themes, the exposition interior, and the social environment,” says Yakutovych.

Hudimov adds: “There is an objective reason why this exhibit looks different in different environments. This exposition can be transformed; it is designed to fit into various kinds of architecture. The main idea is not only to display Serhii Yakutovych’s excellent illustrations, but also to reflect Gogol’s environment and make the viewer part of it.

“Twelve silhouettes of Gogol’s characters will travel to New York. These are made of black plastic with mirror coating. They are life-size and when exposed with contre-jour lighting; they interact with the immediate environment. The viewers, so to say, merge with these figures, just as they blend with the crowd. It’s a very interesting interaction.

“An inimitable atmosphere is created by the electronic noise music. It serves to convey the writer’s characters to the audience. The project also uses flash animation directed by Viktor Bakin and reproductions of Yakutovych’s illustrations of Gogol’s stories blown up to almost monumental dimensions.”

Along with the project “Gogol is Born,” the Ukrainian Institute of America will host Yurii Charyshnikov’s illustrations to Gogol’s St. Petersburg Stories, published last year by the Hrani-T Publishers.