Leica 6×7 Gallery Warszawa presents an exhibition of young Ukrainian photographer Sergey Melnitchenko. Two different photographic cycles of this talented artist will be shown. The first one, Young and Free (2017-2019) contains colorful staged portraits of young men, beyond time and civilization. The second is a series of black and white portraits of a woman entitled Her (2018).
The exhibition is intended for adult visitors.
Her
“Photography in Ukraine is more than a hobby, sport or even art. It’s obvious that through photography Ukrainians express themselves and their condition. They communicate to the world the Ukrainian state of mind, document political events, war, poverty, and exclusion. They dream through photography and create new, amazing worlds. And perhaps most importantly, they use photography to cross borders, norms, and schemes. Not only those moral ones. The transgressiveness of Ukrainian photography made it one of the most visible phenomena in the European and world scene for decades.
Sergey Melnitchenko outstands among the youngest generation of Ukrainian photographers. This extremely talented, hardworking, and devoted to photography artist “flashed” in 2012 with an ironic series about naked bodybuilders and strongmen entitled Schwarzenegger is my idol. In his newer works, also touching the subject of nudity and body, Melnitchenko is more sensitive and reflective, less ironic. The artist approaches the models, breaking the convention of act, but doesn’t enter the area of pornography. The photographer is interested in a thin line separating intimacy from sex. He tries not to cross this line. Perhaps the most interesting are photos showing relationships and emotions, gestures, looks. It is difficult to clearly label this photography as a queer, although there are certainly many shots that suggest a different way of seeing the body. It seems that Melnitchenko wants beauty more than good sex in photography.
The exhibition at 6×7 Leica Gallery presents two different photographic cycles. The first one, Young and Free (2017-2019) presents colorful staged portraits of young men, beyond time and civilization. The second is a series of black and white portraits of a woman entitled Her (2018). It is hard to believe that one photographer is able to move so smoothly between subsequent records of photographic intimacy, change shots, models, plans and still maintain coherence and conviction as to the goal that guides him: showing the emotions. And this perhaps is the most difficult task in photography.” Adam Mazur
Young and Free
Sergey Melnitchenko: Born in 1991 in Mykolayiv, Ukraine. Founder and curator of MYPH photography school and collective. Member of UPHA – Ukrainian Photographic Alternative. Started photography in 2009. For 10 years participated in more than 100 solo and group exhibitions around the world. Winner of Ukrainian and International competitions, including “Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award” in 2017, “Photographer of the year” in 2012, 2013 and 2016 (Kyiv, Ukraine), “Golden Camera” in 2012 (Kyiv, Ukraine). Participant of “Paris Photo” in 2017 and “Volta Art Fair” as part of Art Basel in 2018, 2019.
Curator: Adam Mazur
Opening: 13.02 (Thursday), 7 p.m.
Exhibition: 14.02 – 11.04.2020.
Guided tour of the exhibition: 14.02. (Friday) in Ukrainian 6 p.m., in English 7 p.m.
Master Class Workshop and portfolio review How to be an Artist? 15.02. (Saturday) – upon registration.
Leica 6×7 Gallery Warszawa, Mysia 3, 2nd floor . Admission free.