|
Empire, Power and History are the notions that may inspire awe in most people, especially those who have never seen the Cherkashins` art. The artists themselves, however, turn these grand notions into illusions and play with them as they will. The Cherkashins use photography to create deep gashes in the planes of the hermetic exhibition space. Drawn to photography, as a source of visual truth, the viewer, caught in the Cherkashins` photo-installation, swallows the bait. Worship of power, marriage of ideology to art and its final artistic embodiment that are legitimate in real world stop being valid in the space created by the Cherkashins. The tools used by the contemporary artist including photograph, video, digital technologies, art of installation and performance in the case of the Cherkashins are complemented by art of travel and communication skills. All these traits add up to shape the integral image of the creative artists well-known for their photographic endeavours and yet prepared to be free and versatile in manifesting their artistic potential.
Irina Tchmyreva Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow.
|
|