Anna Zvyagintseva
Anna Zvyagintseva is an artist from Ukraine. In 2010 she graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture, department of painting, Kyiv. In her practice she investigates imperceptible, impalpable facets of life, showcasing their fragility and documenting elusive intangible moments. She is working with topics such as body, paths, useless action, and small gesture. Her oeuvre is made by an entanglement of drawing in various forms and transmedial variations like sculpture, installations, video and painting. Anna participated in the Pavilion of Ukraine Hope!, at the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia (2015); Kyiv Biennale: The School of Kyiv (2015) and The Kyiv International (2017). She was shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize in 2018. She got the Main Prize of the PinchukArtCentre Prize in 2017, and was awarded a Special Prize and has also received a Public Choice Prize in 2015. She was the finalist of the PinchukArtCentre Prize in 2013, and the finalist of MUHI prize in 2010.
To Plant a Stick
2019–2022,
Wooden sticks, sheet of paper, digital print
To Plant a Stick is a tribute to the artist’s grandfather Rostyslav Zvyagintsev. Among the things in his studio, she found a piece of paper with a note: “Like a tree without leaves, my soul stands in the fields.” These words reflect his fascination and attachment to the Ukrainian Polissia where he lived and worked for many years. Contemplating the monument to his grandfather, Anna Zvyagintseva tries to capture this tender connection between the artist, the space of his studio, and the land that often served as a source of inspiration for his paintings. A stick without leaves in this installation functions as an obelisk intended for commemoration. During the exhibitions where the work is presented, the sticks in the water tank always sprout: the leaves reappear on them, and they take root. Just like the one the artist stuck in the Rivne field. The slow and barely noticeable revitalization process of the cut stick over the course of the exhibition gives hope that it is possible to return, at least in memories, to the landscapes of childhood and memories of loved ones who are no longer around.
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October 8–November 12
Where Are We Now, After All Those Endlessly Repeated Words?
Curated by Petro Ryaska, Daria Shevtsova
