Andrey Ostashov. Forms of memory Automatic translate

Erarta Museum of Modern Art presents a retrospective exhibition of the famous Belarusian sculptor Andrei Ostashov.

Andrey Ostashov is one of the most successful and original sculptors of Belarus, who won recognition far beyond the borders of his homeland. His works are stored in the State Russian Museum, the National Art Museum of Belarus and in numerous private collections both in Russia, in Europe and America. Every year around the world opens several exhibition projects of the master.

The exhibition “Forms of Memory” presents works inspired by the sculptor’s long-standing interest in oriental culture and the phenomenon of the formation of myths. The author explores the mechanisms of myth-making, referring to the collective memory, gaining material embodiment in his works. Bizarre bronze sculptures most vividly demonstrate the individual style of the master: the highest degree of detail and meticulously crafted bronze surfaces instantly take the viewer to a bizarre world in which fiction is expertly interwoven with reality, and images inspired by the culture of the East with stories borrowed from ancient mythology. The characters of this world are invariably distinguished by the characteristic features of their appearance: slanting eyes and delicate facial features, which give out to them immigrants from eastern countries. The emphasized “refinement” of bodies sometimes borders on eroticism: the outlines of graceful hands are woven into bizarre patterns, the bends of which echo the ornaments that adorn carefully crafted costumes.

“Previously, a person, hearing the murmur of a stream, thought that it wasn’t water, but a nymph was standing there, blowing in the breeze,” the artist says and hints that, despite the pragmatism of the era, modern people still need “a sweet deception "Explaining the phenomena of the world. Combining references to the past and the present, the sculptures seem to be modern versions of fantasies that carry the viewer into the fantastic world of interweaving visual quotes. East and West, reality and myth, old and new, elite and mass flow into each other, forcing the viewer to feel the meeting of different worlds, to see a single whole, so relevant in the modern world for our time.

The works of the Belarusian master, which are peculiar forms of memory, fascinate and intrigue, I want to solve and decipher them. At the exhibition, the audience will have such an opportunity - the exposition is a retrospective of Andrei Ostashov’s 20-year-old creative life: graphics and, of course, a sculpture made in bronze.

The exhibition will be held at the Erarta Museum from November 23, 2018 to January 20, 2019.