On the 122nd birthday, the Odessa Art Museum was presented with the work of the modern Ukrainian sculptor Egor Zigura. The sculpture "Colossus" is from the AfterToday series.
Born in Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine) in 1984, Egor Zigura currently lives and works in Kyiv.
The artist creates sculptures, installations and art objects. He graduated from Taras Shevchenko Art School in 2003, from the Department of Sculpture of the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in 2009, and from the graduate program of the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in 2012. He taught sculpture and graphic art at the Karpenko-Kary Kyiv National University. A member of the Union of Artists of Ukraine.
As a sculptor, Egor Zigura seeks to explore the legacy of the classical antiquity. His sculptures combine canonical forms with contemporary notions, highlighting the issue of identity in the multicultural world, consumerism, ecological challenges, and other problems of the global society. Egor works both with traditional and with contemporary materials. His arsenal includes bronze, metal and polyester. His works have won acclaim on the international level: they have been represented at international auctions (Phillips, Sotheby’s) and participated in art fairs (Spectrum Miami, Kölner Liste, Tokyo International Art Fair, Volta Basel, and more).
Egor Zigura’s sculptures were acquired by numerous private and public collections, including Zenko Foundation (Ukraine), Abramovych Art Foundation (Ukraine), Brovdi Foundation (Ukraine), and Stedley Art Foundation (Ukraine). His sculptures can be found in private collections in Denmark, France, Portugal, the UK, Singapore, the USA, Japan, China and Italy. His sculptures have been exhibited in many public spaces, including the Abramovych Sculpture Park (Kyiv), Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, A2 clinic (Dnipro).
Odessans have already seen the works of Egor Zigura - in the Green Theater. The gift from the Abramovich Foundation was also placed outdoors - in the courtyard of the Fine Art Museum.
The AfterToday series (2010 – …) represents the author’s confession, where art addresses to contemporaries through a flexible language. The project consists of a cycle of Colossuses, each of which reflects one or another society condition or the artist’s inner emotions. It was an iconic heritage of antiquity to form the project basis. However, Egor Zigura creates his figures fragmented or misshapen, which is more inherent to a postmodern vision.
The main idea - vulnerability of civilizations – is revealed by a clear example of the material and spiritual losses of humanity. Industrialization and globalization have already reached the farthest Earth corners. The wars we are waging; catastrophes we are to blame on became ever more terrifying – the planet is cracking under pressure.
A kind of prototype for the sculptor’s artworks was the reproduction of the Greco-Roman mythology plot created by a Spanish artist Francisco Goya. «El Coloso» (1812) – is an allegory of confrontation, people’s tragedy. The painting depicts a militant, determined figure. The heroic position of the giant symbolizes a call to action. Zigura’s Colossuses visualize values deformation of the modern civilization. Disorientation creates problems and conflicts that lead to destruction.
