Evgeny Antufiev opens his solo exhibition, Exploring materials (full title Twelve, wood, dolphin, knife, bowl, mask, crystal, bones and marble – fusion. Exploring materials) this Sunday 17 February. As his first exhibition in Italy, this presentation marks the completion of a project for Collezione Maramotti. Antufiev makes constant use of a variety of objects and materials that appear to have no obvious connection to one another — cloth, crystals, meteorites, bones, hair, teeth, glue, snake skins, insects, marble, wood. However within his installations they are transformed as they fuse into one another and come to be involved in a process that’s reminiscent of alchemy.

Committed to using his hands to create everything he produces, he sews, embroiders and carves pieces of wood, boils bones and skulls. Also maintaining a close relationship with the culture of his homeland, Siberia, he acknowledges the shamanic traditions which still remain important to their existence. Exploring materials challenges the viewer’s perceptions of materials, and transforms them into objects and forms that we ordinarily associate with physical functions. Antufiev’s works attempt to place “the world on display”, this desire speaks of an interest in the creative gesture of the human being.

The installation is ruled by a rhythm that is similar to that of ritual. The space gives a voice to a visionary collection of materials and objects, where everything has its own precise place and a relationship to the artist’s mind.

Evgeny Antufiev: Twelve, wood, dolphin, knife, bowl, mask, crystal, bones and marble – fusion. Exploring materials, 17 February – 31 July, Collezione Maramotti, Via Fratelli Cervi 66, 42124 Reggio Emilia – Italy

Credits
1. Twelve, wood, dolphin, knife, bowl, mask, crystal, bones and marble – fusion. Exploring materials, Evgeny Antufiev, image courtesy of the artist and Collezione Maramotti.