Waiting Status
5 May - 22 Juin 2024
Opening Sunday 5 May, 2 - 7 pm in presence of the artist, at the Frédérick Mouraux Gallery, Brussels.
Frédérick Mouraux is pleased to present the recent paintings of Anatoly Gankevich in his solo exhibition "Waiting Status". The artist was inspired by a Japanese engraving by Ando Hiroshige and realized a new series on the theme of rain. This magnificent exhibition can be seen at the Frédérick Mouraux Gallery from May 5 to June 22, 2024.
thread of rain
between heaven and earth
the finest connection
Now, before our eyes, reality is quickly and noticeably transforming, and the entire civilized world has frozen in anticipation of the unknown. I also felt a certain “stop”. This rapid change in the external world stopped my personal, habitual path and plunged my attention, like many others, into a close observation of reality.
This situation reminded me of a well-known cinematic scene, when a heavy downpour thundered in the city and all the passers-by on the street suddenly stopped and hid from the rain, trying to find shelter anywhere. They had to pause, they were forced to wait. The anticipation of the inevitable end of the rainfall is a pause for an indefinite period of time for reflection. People humbly and patiently stand and wait. Someone looks at their phone, someone looks at the rain and waits for the end of the bad weather. They contemplate their individual landscape, outlined by thin threads of rain, and enter a certain state, known to many, a state of expectation.
My personal sense of uncertainty, the world situation and the frequent Belgian rain intersected in my head when I accidentally came across an image online of the famous Japanese print by Ando Hiroshige “Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake”.
The image of rain and its special state was distant and even depressing for me. I am used to living in a sunny city, where it rains mostly in the fall. And in my work, sunlight has always dominated. I used sun-drenched landscapes and the sea, split into reflections of the sun, reflections of flowering trees and streaming light through the blinds. In Odessa, where I’m from, there are 200 sunny days a year and I’ll be honest, it wasn’t easy for me to find beauty in the rainy weather. The acceptance of rain as a blissful atmosphere came during the process of living in Belgium for two years and writing this series of works. This happens when you are in a state of deep immersion in work, you subtly feel all shades and states. I saw the beauty of the image of rain, this magical state, and fell in love with this rich, multi-layered texture, which I tried to express in mosaic. I also hope to encourage the viewer to approach the idea of the project, its content and meaning through their own thoughts and reflections on reality.
For more information, please contact the gallery :
info@frederickmourauxgallery.com / www.frederickmourauxgallery.com
© Anatoly Gankevich, Blind rain, 2024, 100 x 100 cm