Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art presents an exhibition by Alexander Samodurov, the artist who uses self-adhesive sheets to illustrate timeless philosophical questions
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Artworks that shift perspective, with scissors for brushes and coloured vinyl for paint
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The deceptive veil of Maya that reveals a world contingent on the viewer’s perception
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Imagery that resembles digital glitches and yet references ancient myths
Explaining the title of his solo show, Alexander Samodurov refers to the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer and his concept of the ‘veil of Maya’ denoting the illusory nature of our existence. The ultimate illusion here is likened to a protective veil that, during a person’s lifetime, conceals his or her oneness with the entire world and presence in all being. It is in death, however, that the truth is revealed.
The artist confronts the viewer with a series of questions: what is the human place in the spacetime of the outside world with its delusiveness and pretence? What is real and what is deceptive? What lies beyond human awareness?
Alexander Samodurov’s meditative creative practice is directly linked to the world of illusion. The artist dissects, burns through, and regenerates the flesh of the self-adhesive vinyl sheets – the advertisers’ medium of choice. Posters, signboards, and advertising imagery all form a kind of superstructure over reality, through which we sometimes catch glimpses of archaic myths. Samodurov takes on the role of the conjurer of these texts, hand-crafting visuals that resemble digital glitches, representing the conflict between a concept and its computer-based realisation. After all, the notion of Maya encapsulates something of a divine power, a special energy capable of spawning images. And, ultimately, this is beautiful!
Alexander Samodurov was born in 1952 in Voronezh. The medium of painting was instrumental at all stages of his journey, from school and college, through the period of conscription military service, and all the way to his theatre, radio, and television projects. Actively involved in stage directing since 1979, Samodurov founded the Krug (‘Circle’) experimental theatre in Aktyubinsk (Kazakhstan). His productions secured a number of festival awards for best directing, stage design, and music scores.
Since the 1990s, the artist has been creating collages using a signature technique, cutting or burning their components out of self-adhesive vinyl sheets. Alexander Samodurov’s artworks have been acquired by various private collectors and state institutions in Kazakhstan and shown in a series of group exhibitions in Moscow. Year 2024 saw his solo show Collage as an Extension of Theatre in the New Wing of the Gogol House Museum.
