"Centauromachy"Personal exhibit of Erbossyn Meldibekov Erbossyn Meldibekov is one of the most wanted figures of the Central Asian region in the world's art scene. The proof is his participation in the recent largest art forums: the 51 st Venice Biennale, the 10 th media-art biennale in Los Angeles, the 2 nd Moscow Biennale. In addition, he participated in many group exhibits in Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, the United States and Czech Republic. Still the most defining event for an artist is his personal exhibits. Erbossyn has had four personal exhibitions: in Milan (Italy), Berlin (Germany), Moscow (Russia), and Zagreb (Croatia). However paradoxical (and perhaps logical), he has never had a personal exhibit in his home country. (Centauromachy is a plot in the Greek mythology that tells about the genocide of centaurs, mixanthropic creatures - semi-humans, semi-horses - for their amoral and dissolute behavior, alcoholism and sexual debauchery). On February 13, 2007, the Soros Center for Contemporary Art -Almaty will host the opening of a personal exhibit of Erbossyn Meldibekov titled “Centauromachy”. The exhibit features his altogether new works that make up three cycles. 1. The “...bay-batyr” series consists of five busts that repeat the mimic relieves of the artist's face. These self-portraits differ from each other by the details of their medieval ammunition. Naturally, the artist has been inspired by the modern monumental sculpture that has grown on the expanses of Kazakhstan with the speed of mushrooms, which reconstructs the ancient heroes with remarkable precision. Having carefully studied the samples of Kazakhstani neo-classicism and baroque, the artist discovered that the physiognomic specificities of the medieval supermen are absolutely identical to the physiognomic details of actually Erbossyn Meldibekov himself. The same characteristic cut of the eyes, the same shape of cheekbones, even the same beard! The shock from this unexpected discovery has been immediately registered and multiplied in five copies. 2. “The Peak of Victory” is a series of installations that demonstrates the transformation of the objects from the Soviet period as well from the new capitalist times into the wild Asiatic landscape. The author states the futility of attempts to westernize Central Asia. Thus, the American foil kitchenware used to cook the Christmas turkey gets turned into the snow peaks of Hindukush (Afghanistan) or the “dish” used for relieving sick people into the winter view of the Kazbek mountain (on the border between Chechnya and Georgia). The snow peaks, according to the author, mostly grow in tense places. 3. “Centauromachy” is a series of photographs that plays with the image of centaurs. However, the centaurs are in the process of mutation: we see a face with a stuck-out horse tongue on which there is a cross-shaped wound. We see a centaur with skin removed from its body, and in the place of a head and arms we see legs and men's genitalia. We see a centaur with the Kalashnikov gun and in camouflage outfit with his scalp turned inside out. We see the skins of centaurs with traces of abuses that are drawn in the shape of symbolic figures such as crosses and squares. “The map of Gengiz-khan or the skin of a red horse” is a central piece in the “Centauromachy” series. The fragments of skin with pieces of meat and fat photographed from a close distance look like a topographical picture while the lines stitched by horse hair define the borders of Central Asia. This name sends us back both to the odious medieval conqueror and to the monstrous ruler of XX century. The cult image of Petrov-Vodkin created during the Stalin epoch as a symbol and the hope of revolution has been dissected, and the intestines disclosed an ancient map of Gengiz-khan. The centauromachy has reached its peak. Dastan Kozhakhmetov, the curator of the exhibition. back©SCCA 2001-2002 |