Painting “Bridge” (2018)

Eduard Potapenkov's new art series "In uniform" raises a lot of topical issues. The clash of the human individual and society, the desire for one's own identification, attempts to conform to the brought up ideal - and wow, a thorny path to this, all of this only determines, and does not exhaust, the content of works.

The very ambiguity of the slogan dictated both the conditional binary composition of the series, and its double, triple meanings. The concept "in the form" primarily means the corporate unification of the armed model, carries certain threats to those around, from which follows the inevitable opposition of ruthless "siloviki" to sluggish "civilians". Which, by definition, are always "out of shape", which brings us to the highest stage of signification, associated with an uncontrollable desire to acquire an inner core and external disciplinary shaping of his mental inner, which requires the individual or daily training, which can also be understood in two ways / threefold: both as the improvement of the bodily image, and as a permanent spiritual catharsis - finally, as an uprising from the "prison" of vile flesh "(Evelyn).

The latter is closely connected with the first part of the series, called by the artist as “Silicone.” A multitude of amorphous, indefinite organisms, the genealogy of which is addressed both to the bold experiments of modern cybernetics (and cosmetic surgery, which often gives the victim to be eaten by the dubious Pygmalions), and the chthonic past of the human the person who is trying to overcome, overstep or forget. The characters of "Silicone" are stuck between the conventionally anthropomorphic and the unconditionally mechanistic, an example of which is the mini-parade of quasi-glamorous mannequins, which were so loved by the surrealist marginal in the opinion of Hans Belmer. - solved by the motives of traditionally geometric rhythmics - gives these creatures an illusory chance to overcome everyday fate, which seems unbearable to them.

In addition, "In shape" is also the undisguised virtuosity of Eduard Potapenkov's brushstroke, the ability to convey the most bizarre view of the body with a few strokes of the brush, the bulge of a capricious shape - here you are, by the way, another nuance of the proclaimed slogan. The content of an artifact is worthless if their good intentions are not confirmed by an adequate level of formal decision: not a sufficient, but absolutely necessary condition for the existence of a skillful artifact.

Looking at which, the viewer will confidently say: the author is in shape!

And will wait to continue.

Oleg Sidor-Ghibelinda, candidate of art history