SELECTED VIDEO WORKS | DMITRY GUTOV

Dmitry Gutov is an artist, philosopher and historian. He is a significant figure in contemporary Russian art. In his performance, he employs all the available means of expression from painting, photography and installation to video work. The uniqueness of his creations can, among other things, be attributed to his long-lasting fascination with the philosophy of Mikhail Lifshitz. Gutov has taken the perspective this XX century art critic developed towards art and reality as the inspiration for most of his artistic activity. Mikhail Lifshitz mainly won renown for contesting modernity but also for his strong belief in the causative power of art in its ability to change the real, which he shared with the romanticists.

The selected video projects displayed in ggm2 are filled with a specific aura. Is it nostalgia? This could be the first impression. However, the artist doesn’t miss what is gone. Sometimes he just draws on quotations and images of the past in order to focus our attention on the present. 

Some of the films, such as “Moscow Summer” may seem playful and easy in reception. On the other hand though, one can catch a glimpse of the artist’s fondness for the surrounding reality. And this is what most of Gutov’s projects represent, granting form and essence equal rank. Therefore the pieces of art that can be seen in ggm2 lead the audience into a melancholic, even slightly dark mood, intensified by the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. And since they touch on a specific matter, their reception can be more than just aesthetic or formal.

Dmitry Gutov was born in 1960 in Moscow. He is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg, Institute of Art, Sculpture and Architecture. He lives and works in Moscow.

 

OPENING: Friday 11.05.2012, 8:00PM

EXHIBITION: 12.05.2012 – 08.07.2012

CURATOR: Maria Sasin

PLACE: Gdansk City Gallery 2, Powroźnicza 13/15,

HOURS: Tue-Wed 11-17, Thu-Sun 11-19

ADMISSION FREE

 

 

 

 

 

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