In 2009, the Municipal Gallery hosted a companion exhibition to the “4-Block” Triennial, titled “In the Absence of the Author 5: nature more.” This exhibition featured works by several international artists, including Pavel Makov (Ukraine), David Davis (Great Britain), Nikolai Shtuk (Russia), and Viktor Meyer (Germany).
The central theme of the exhibition was the diversity of artists’ perceptions of the surrounding environment, resulting in a wide range of images that viewers could observe in the artists’ works.
“The visual environment often evokes a response in our senses. This happens constantly, and for most people it is related to providing for life or decoration. However, few people imagine how this or that object can be perceived, become part of the living environment, part of the visual environment. Often, dead things come to life, interact with each other, and communicate with people. Photography captures these dialogues,” said the project curator, Nikolai Shtuk.
It is also worth mentioning the artist who represented Ukraine and opened an exhibition of graphic works at the MG entitled “Looking-Glass World. Gardens of Recent Years”…
Pavel Makov is a virtuoso printmaker who has found his recognizable style, a signature “Makov logo.” Makov successfully combines the serial nature of his etchings with the conceptual thoughtfulness of each sheet; he prefers an elongated horizontal format that defines a certain scale, a reference point in his intricate cartographic details and minutiae.
According to Makov, the Looking-Glass World, in his understanding, is our existence that we share with you. “This is my worldview,” the artist explained. “Under the sky of one country, there are too many contradictory things. And the garden is a very broad metaphor, starting with paradise and ending with an ordinary garden under the window.” Visitors should pay special attention to the invitation card – according to Pavel, it is a kind of pass into the Looking-Glass World. “I don’t teach anyone anything with my works. In visual art, there is no tactics, and if there is, then it ceases to be art.”
