Boris Mikhailov: Ukraine

The first exhibition at Camera is a retrospective dedicated to Boris Mikhailov, among the most important living artists to have grown up in the ex-Soviet Union.

The central theme of the show –made up of over 300 items – is the author’s homeland, Ukraine: recounted, described and deformed over a time span stretching from the ‘60s up to the recent Euromaidan revolution.

The exhibition itinerary thus develops three different directives, each combined and intertwining with the others: the last 50 years of history of Ukraine may be traced, from its Soviet past to independence right up to the latest revolutions, which have brought this country into the media spotlight, making it crucial stage for the dressing of global political and economic balances; Mikhailov’s artistic career, characterised by an endless series of experimentations with a diverse range of media and aesthetics; lastly, it may be noted how the theme of Ukraine has been progressively integrated into Mikhailov’s work, shifting from documentation to reconstruction, from theatricalisation to diary-writing, and from the narrative to the anti-narrative.

Ukraine includes 9 series, each representative of a key moment in the articulation of the exhibition themes: Superimpositions (1968-75), Black Archive (1968-79), Red Series (1968-75), Luriki (1976-81), Crimean Snobbism (1981), At Dusk (1993), Case History (1997-98), Tea Coffee Cappuccino (2000-2010) and The Theater of War (2013).

Mikhailov’s images allow the visitors to move through the life and works of one of the key figures in the history of contemporary art, at the same time piecing back together an alternative and personal version of an entire national historiography.