From January 18 to March 2, the exhibition 'Don't Forget Me' will take place at the Perspective Galerie in Paris, featuring works by 6 artists, including 4 Ukrainians. APL315, Yulia Belyaeva, Masha Silchenko, Timur Postovy, as well as Norman Brenedt and Sacha Tebul, will present works in completely different forms: sculpture, photography, and painting.
"At this exhibition, we invite the viewer to use the showcase as a guide to the question of memory, not in a political context but rather as a social and collective process. The works of the artists interact with each other in an inseparable dialogue aimed at rethinking the concept of memory, its categorization, and its importance for contemporary understanding," commented curator Ksenia Ulyanova.
The exhibition opens with a work by the Odessa artist APL315, who explores archaic proto-graffiti in his work and provides new meanings to cave drawings through his canvases.
Julia Belyaeva's porcelain sculptures convey collective memory through historical and mythological characters. The sculpture represents the artist's body inspired by the images of Salome, the Capitoline Wolf, and the god of sleep, Hypnos. Porcelain underscores the fragility and vulnerability of human life and memory.
From collective observation, 'Don't Forget Me' moves towards individual memory in the works of Masha Silchenko. She uses her ceramic pages as a notebook of memory, mythologizing everyday impressions, sometimes isolating insignificant events in a monolithic and monumental format.
Timur Postovy's paintings, on the contrary, bring us back to an elevated yet fragile theme. The characters in his works shine through ambient light, creating the illusion of a mirror in which one can see their own reflection or an icon in the corner of a room, before which they bow in prayer, seeking forgiveness for their soul.
The photographs of German photographer Norman Brenedt are serious narratives of significant political events conveyed through intimate and personal perspectives. They serve not only as a document of the era they encompass and record but also as a journey into the depths of individual social experience through personal memory.
The logical conclusion of the exhibition is the video work by French artist Sacha Tebul, a dedication to all those 'who praised the winter sun, roses, and light when darkness and hatred surrounded them'—those who sacrificed their lives so that others could still cherish theirs.
