Art Kaohsiung 2018

Press release

Askeri Gallery took part in the Art Kaohsiung 2018, which was held in Kaohsiung (Taiwan).

The works of three Russian artists were presented at the booth P3-02: Pavel Polanski, Gleb Skubachevsky and Anton Totibadze.

Pavel Polanski’s art was represented by a series of paintings "War of the worlds".

Its main theme is a demonstration of the dualism of the world. This dualism is expressed in a combination of opposites that are responsible for our diversity. Each work consists of two parts, which can be described as Yin and Yang. One part is realistic painting representing the real world - Yin. The other part looks like a cartoon drawing. This part represents another world that is more attractive - Jan. This technique is combined with comics, which is characterized by three elements - a hero, travel and a fantasy. Every painting is a story. However, we can combine them into a novel. The first scene (Yin) is a village with a garden, a river and fields. Another world (Yang) is the world of dreams, fantasies and heroes. Children see themselves as heroes of cartoons, fairy tales or computer games. The artist transferred the adults to a different world, but with familiar elements of reality. This creates a ridiculous and absurd mixture of objects of different cultures, religions and everyday life. Aesthetically perfect, new works by Pavel Polanski resemble the comic in its technique.

Gleb Skubachevsky made several new works from the series ‘Anima Aliena’ specifically for the fair in Taiwan.

The works of Gleb Skubachevsky represent organisms of the species Anima Aliena -alien life forms once discovered by Earth scientists. The artist puts the viewer in a situation of meeting the Other who has nothing to do with Homo Sapiens. The space research theme gives the project a colonial perspective. How does a person relate to this organism? The explorer and the explored? The observer and the observed?

‘It seems very interesting to think about life forms that exist, existed, and maybe one day will appear somewhere in the Universe! Why not to model on canvas objects similar to extraterrestrial organisms? They are primitive forms of life. Some of them are animals, others are plants, and we will find them for sure! But how long should we wait for space expeditions to other planets and other planetary systems?! I am tired of waiting: I create my own world and begin to populate it with incredible creatures!’ - says the artist.

Anton Totibadze is a representative of the second generation from artistic family: his father and his uncle (Konstantin and Georgy Totibadze) are well–known Russian artists.

In his works, Anton manages to convey a sense of lightness of being inherent in the artist himself. Askeri Gallery presented on the art fair works from the series "Folk’s wisdom", in which Anton reminds urban residents of the simple pleasures of village life: fishing, mushroom picking, growing potatoes.

Artists

Pavel Polanski