Penetration. Mikita Shalennii

19 жовтня 2017 - 02 грудня 2017

About Author

Born on April 18, 1982 in Dnipropetrovsk.
Graduated from the Prydniprovska State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture, department of Architecture. Worked as an architect and a lecturer at the Academy. In 2011 begins full time career as an artist.
The Winner of the Best Installation Prize, ArtVilnius′15 June, 2015
and Public Choice Prize, Pinchuk Art Centre 2011.
Works from the project “Where is your brother?” are in a Mocak Museum of Contemporary Art collection (Krakow, Poland); “Album about war” belongs to a Faurschou Foundation collection (Copenhagen, Denmark); artist′s works also belong to other Dutch and Great Britain collections.
Media: painting, drawing, video, photography, installation.
Based in Dnipro, Ukraine.

This project is an attempt to penetrate the most hidden places of human relationships and to explore stereotypes and archetypes that continue to exist. At the level of the collective unconscious, society continues to hide under clothing and try to ignore everything that concerns dominance, mutual oppression and persistence in relationships.

The photos show the gender stereotypes in society and how the author transforms them through own experience. The story is not just about one guy surrounded by four women, but rather an image of the interaction between feminine and masculine. This is an abstract plot, aimed to reach all possible situations. Mikita Shalennii shows that intention to dominate and to hide own confusion in front of the opponent is similar for both sides. Man and woman can have the same feelings and emotions, this is why the artist asks people to see the personality first without sexual intercourse.

The PENETRATION story takes place in the real, not perfect world. The artist wants to state the existing problems and show how different they can be. Nikita Shalenny is inviting the viewer to reflect on the theme and try to compare photos with own intimate experience: should the interaction be like that, are these relationships normal? The purpose of the project is to raise these questions, asking for reviewing the stereotypes that exist in each of us, try to analyse them critically and to understand the changing of norms.