Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art presents an exhibition by Peter Zaytsev whose concrete sculptures speak the simple and universal language of kindness
-
Concise shapes and clean-cut outlines: an artistic practice that appeals to common experiences and clear symbols
-
Self-proclaimed ‘romantic minimalism’ as a way to address important matters in simple terms
-
Strength, tenderness, and delicately nuanced mental states taking shape in a course material
Peter Zaytsev’s sculptures target the mass audience – or, more accurately, the multitudinous passers-by. The majority of the show is comprised of concrete sculptures created for public spaces. Concise shapes, clean-cut outlines, and clear concepts make these works easily accessible regardless of the viewer’s actual background in art. On display here is art appealing to common experiences, relatable emotions, and the natural human desire to be amused.
In this sense, Zaytsev’s creations invite comparisons with Pop Art. The sculptor deploys instantly recognisable imagery that requires no decoding: animals, everyday objects, and uncomplicated symbols. Pop Art’s major breakthrough was its willingness to converse with the mass culture in its own language – the language of advertising, comics, gaudy storefronts, and catchy signs. Wielding the same capacity for direct communication, Zaytsev modifies its tone. Whereas Pop Art would often use popular imagery to provide ironic, distanced and/or critical commentary on consumerist society, Zaytsev demonstrates a knack for dealing with more simple and humane subjects like connection, tenderness, trust, and interpersonal contact.
Featuring prominently here are various animals – especially those championed by present-day mass culture. One example is the capybara, a very exotic creature until recently, now adopted as a nearly omnipresent symbol of good-natured serenity. The ultimate result is a peculiar kind of monumental sculpture embodying the far-from-monumental yearning for calmness and security.
Even the rhinoceros that so powerfully and ambivalently preoccupied Salvador Dalí, is, in Zaytsev’s version, fully devoid of aggression and erotic tension. Contrariwise, it carries on its back a cosy neighbourhood bathed in the setting sun’s golden light. The heavy and awkward animal unexpectedly turns into an architectural structure, revealing this cross between might and kind-heartedness as one of the artist’s signature paradoxes.
In his more concept-driven pieces, Peter addresses more complicated aspects of human feelings and emotions. The delicately nuanced mental states are hardly a fitting subject for a sculptor. Zaytsev, however, manages to scale up each of them, turning it into a clear visual image. This is what makes his sculptures so compelling: surely, everyone has experienced the warmth of a home, the desire to embrace someone, the sense of security, and the sudden thrill of a touch sending shivers down one’s spine.
Peter Zaytsev’s architectural background causes his sculptures to engage in special relations with their surroundings. Nonetheless, inside the exhibition space they, too, become architectural, creating an environment within which the viewers are about to embark on their own life-changing journey.
Born and raised in Moscow, sculptor Peter Zaytsev graduated from the Moscow Institute of Architecture in 2002 and made a successful professional career as the co-founder of zabor architects agency. In 2018, Peter discovered a new form of artistic expression in sculpture, referring to his unique style as ‘romantic minimalism.’ Generally favouring concrete as his material of choice, he also works with metal, stone, wood, and plastic. Peter Zaytsev’s artworks won many awards and prizes at both Russian and international contemporary art festivals and competitions.
