Curator: Dina Yakerson

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The series of works under the title “Luna Volta'' by Evgenii Petrushanskii, currently exhibited at Grosse Modo gallery, is a product of sixteen years, during which he spontaneously documented moments and situations in various places in the world. Specific works are more personal, and these are combined with photos of random characters he had met or seen on the street – total strangers who seem to be in a certain state of mind, alluding to an almost universal existential pain.

 

This series of works functions as somewhat of a self portrait – a reflection of the artist-vagabond, who observes these situations from a distance but also from a very intimate perspective. Despite the fact that the photos were taken in different years and diverse places, it seems that each one of the documented characters bears its own story, which the viewers are welcome to complete in their own minds. The boy-wrestler, standing alone in an empty room; portraits of strong yet vulnerable men; the artists’ mother during her last hours – all of which form a traveling diary which documents fragments of life, and the human experience. The photographer’s special gaze, resting on his subject matters (both the familiar ones and the strangers), is full of empathy, exposing their vulnerability which reflects back on himself.

 

The title of the exhibition is taken from Italian. The word ‘volta’ is a part of a word combination which means ‘once’, but can also be interpreted as ‘side’ or ‘turn’. Therefore, it is possible to translate the title as ‘the turn of the moon’, however it is also charged with the meaning of time, and therefore with the meaning of memory. These works bear a nostalgic gaze on fleeting moments that shall not return, on memories illuminated by the moon, casting its shadow and light upon them.