October 22 – 25, 2020
Aquatoria is the first film by Ukrainian artist Anatoliy Gankevich from his new film trilogy The Gaze of the Sun, presented in Kyiv at M17 Contemporary Art Center. The premiere of the film is part of an exhibition project with the same name – The Gaze of the Sun: Aquatoria.
The protagonist of the film Aquatoria is a Disco Ball from the 90s which is also a symbol of the underground club movement and at the same time a visual double of the Sun. Leaving its pedestal at the entrance to Langeron Beach, Disco Ball embarks on a journey. Along the way, it absorbs into its mirrors the reflections of all the opposing characters, uniting them into a single “quantum story”.
The tapes from the trilogy are three times and three elements: past/water, present/fire, future/wind. According to Anatoliy Gankevich, the water that became the leitmotif of Aquatoria prompted the creation of a perfect image in order to make a deep, piercing impression on the viewer. The embodiment of this image, Aqua, in the picture was the world champion in bodybuilding, Kateryna Grima. And this episode was taken as a visual prologue to the entire exhibition project The Gaze of the Sun: Aquatoria at M17.
Anatoliy Gankevich, artist: “The sun pursues anyone who walks along the shore with a glance like a searchlight. Like a holy face from an icon, which seems to be chained to the observer. The solar path is a view of the Sun. The Sun, as a Divine person who looks at everything at once: the sea, the land and me. And I, like all people on earth, just a reflection, a small reflex, a reflection on the water”.
Natalia Shpytkovska, Director of M17 CAC: “The tape splits the consciousness, shifts the focus to the inner. Eventually, your subconscious crumbles into thousands of particles, leaving a mosaic of waves with reflections in each scene. Showing what is hidden deep inside, the artist, as a magician, manipulates the viewer. And this manipulation is designed to cause a certain insight into the viewer”.
Alisa Lozhkina, art critic: “Talking about the new project of Anatoliy Gankevich Aquatoria is like rewriting a dream, a trip to a new state of falling in love, when the world comes to life, and appears to be talking with signs that reality is something else and manifests with the beauty of being”.
In addition, an exhibition of the author’s works, in tune with the film, will be held in the halls of the Center. Among them are a series of photographs, as well as new paintings “Aqua”, “Self-portrait with disco ball”, triptych “Aquatoria”.You are welcome to the premiere of Aquatoria (the first movie from The Gaze of the Sun project) at M17 CAC from 23 to 25 October 2020.
Project partners: Adamovskiy Foundation, Ukrainian Club of Contemporary Art Collectors, Odesa Museum of Contemporary Art, Pochayna Event Hall, Inkerman Ukraine with Prima Maria Inkerman collection wines, ArtCult Foundation
