The exhibition at the “RA” gallery announces itself a bit more intricately: “…Cuba… Por Favor…”, but even here it is not difficult to guess the concept, at least from the unnamed 5-part series of silkscreens on metal, accompanied by popular slogans of the Cuban revolution, portraits of Fidel and Che. And in another hall — 13 photographs: a wreath of tetraptychs, where a piece of colonial baroque neighbors a dilapidated limousine from the 50s, and a laughing dwarf — with an evening palm tree and a socialist skyscraper. And these are not abstract reflections on the theme of the Island of Freedom (against which “…the waves of imperialism break,” reported the newspaper “Izvestia” in 1962), but the most direct impressions from a trip to a strange and peculiar country, where fate brought him for a not too revolutionary purpose: to shoot a clip for El Kravchuk. From where he returned “tired but satisfied.” And immediately plunged into work. It was not easy to translate the already made photographs of roadside agitational billboards into the shimmering-infernal technique of “white on white.” But the author expects much from the upcoming corrosion of the material, which, without touching the contours of the image, will “star” the texture of the surface in a new way.
Kirill does not share the currently fashionable cynicism towards Cuba and revolutionary ideals. “They probably have the most adequate love for their Homeland.” He respects Che Guevara — “a colossal phenomenon in the history of the 20th century.” He diplomatically remained silent about Castro. Well, they are unlucky today, everyone blames yesterday’s friends… It so happened that the “burning continent” shrank to micro sizes of the Island of Freedom already in the 90s like a shagreen skin. By the way, Cuba inspired not only our naive “sixtiers” (what can you expect from them!), but also Márquez and Cortázar, which is a bit “more serious”.Comment type: Published comment
Author: Oleg Sidor-Gibelinda
Sources: Sidor-Gibelinda O. “Strange Art” at the Kyiv gallery “RA” [Electronic resource] / Oleg Sidor-Gibelinda // Mignews. – 2001. – Access mode to the resource: http://www.kiev2000.com/news/view.asp?Id=2439
