Pavel Braila
24 May - 21 Jun 2008
PAVEL BRAILA
May 24 to June 21, 2008
vernissage, saturday May 24
Yvon Lambert, Paris, is pleased to announce the second exhibition of Pavel Braila, Want. New works ranging from 2007-2008 will be presented.
WANT, red neon tube on black plastic background, 100x80cm
The word WANT, is outlined 10 times in red neon. It will light up in 10 steps from the center to the edge, each step increasing the size of the word and the amplitude of its meaning. At the maximal lighted step though the word becomes impossible to read.
FEAR FERVOUR, white and blue neon tube, on black vinyl background 50cmx80cm
Fear is written in blue neon, Fervour in white neon. Fear, as word, is indeed longer than fervour. But what about the feelings themselves? Does fervour last longer than fear? one could wonder if fervour comes after fear, and think about those feelings in relationship to reality and dreams. For Pavel Braila, born in 1971 in the USSR, this piece addresses also soci-political issues of the past and present of two generation.
WHITE PROMENADE, video and Plunge, (dv, b/w, sound, 8min)
These two pieces are the continuation of a series of performances that Pavel Braila did sometime ago such as ‘Pionner’, 1997, ‘Recalling events’, 2001, ‘Work, 2002. Back then, he was dealing with basic natural materials (white paper and the landscape, blackboard and white chalk, black soil and white paper) and involving himself in their manipulation. In each of these works he intended to keep the neutrality and ‘naturalness’ of a material and mix it with uncomplicated movement. In all these simplicity, the artist says he’s “trying to raise questions and new sets of associations, which may be quite ambiguous despite the brevity and apparent straightforwardness that is shown.”
In White promenade Pavel Braila decided to use an untouched snowed field as a screen for a night projection. On the snowed-screen he projected the trees from around the field where the performance took place. The projection created an open air cinema. Entering in the shaped ‘screen’ he walked in a rectangular path from the edge to the centre, destroying the intact surface and in the same time building a new one, such a construction through deconstruction. Filming it from above I treated the screen as a canvas, and in this way the video becomes a painting that is gradually completing itself by the action in it.
‘THE PLUNGE’ (dv, color, sound, 6min) shows again the process of “building by destroying”.
In this piece Pavel Braila used paper, he chose this material because it is one of the oldest medium to spread information and because the artist likes to work with this clean, flexible and noisy material.
The ‘Plunge’ also starts from a white ”stage” (screen/canvas) - a point zero, composed of a pile of 105 white sheets of paper, 4x3m each. The action is filmed from above, the performer is lying on the white surface. Action begins as an exploration of an existing surface by ripping, squeezing, and stretching sheet after sheet. The space is being constantly distorted and transformed, the performer never stops, longing to grab another layer, the process of creative destruction keeps going on. The series of paintings “My Father’s Dreams” is related to the hopes of Pavel Braila’s father towards him when he was younger, at different stages of his childhood. “My father had many aspirations but never thought that his son’s career would be related to art. When I became established as an artist, my father somehow acknowledged my choice, but I could still feel the “generation gap” and see his scepticism towards my work. “What kind of artist are you if you cannot paint a portrait?” I decided to commission a professional painter to ‘realize’ some of the dreams my father had for me. What were those dreams? When I was in a cradle?
Cosmonaut. When I was a bad pupil in elementary school? Refueler at a petrol station or a watch repairer. While I was still in school, he wanted my sister to play the Violin and me to play the accordion, as our elder cousins were doing. Before I went to university, my father wanted me to study agronomy and to become eventually a Winemaker-Engineer etc. etc.” COSMONAUT
“I was born in Soviet Union in 1971, ten years after Gagarin became the first human being in space and the first to orbit the Earth, it was the beginning of a new era and being a cosmonaut was the most desired profession. I was sleeping in a cradle, my father was a young doctor, the radio was talking about Soviet space program, so my father was dreaming that one day his son will become the first cosmonaut from Moldova“
REFUELLER AT A PETROL STATION / WATCH REPAIRER
“When I was about to finish elementary school, my father had to abandon his highest hopes for me. Once, he told me that he could get me a job in a Petrol Station, “it’s a easy job and doesn’t need specific education” he said. Another option was to become a mechanic in a watch repair shop. At that time in the Soviet Union those jobs were better paid than a doctor. Still after this discussion I decided to do my best and go to University.
May 24 to June 21, 2008
vernissage, saturday May 24
Yvon Lambert, Paris, is pleased to announce the second exhibition of Pavel Braila, Want. New works ranging from 2007-2008 will be presented.
WANT, red neon tube on black plastic background, 100x80cm
The word WANT, is outlined 10 times in red neon. It will light up in 10 steps from the center to the edge, each step increasing the size of the word and the amplitude of its meaning. At the maximal lighted step though the word becomes impossible to read.
FEAR FERVOUR, white and blue neon tube, on black vinyl background 50cmx80cm
Fear is written in blue neon, Fervour in white neon. Fear, as word, is indeed longer than fervour. But what about the feelings themselves? Does fervour last longer than fear? one could wonder if fervour comes after fear, and think about those feelings in relationship to reality and dreams. For Pavel Braila, born in 1971 in the USSR, this piece addresses also soci-political issues of the past and present of two generation.
WHITE PROMENADE, video and Plunge, (dv, b/w, sound, 8min)
These two pieces are the continuation of a series of performances that Pavel Braila did sometime ago such as ‘Pionner’, 1997, ‘Recalling events’, 2001, ‘Work, 2002. Back then, he was dealing with basic natural materials (white paper and the landscape, blackboard and white chalk, black soil and white paper) and involving himself in their manipulation. In each of these works he intended to keep the neutrality and ‘naturalness’ of a material and mix it with uncomplicated movement. In all these simplicity, the artist says he’s “trying to raise questions and new sets of associations, which may be quite ambiguous despite the brevity and apparent straightforwardness that is shown.”
In White promenade Pavel Braila decided to use an untouched snowed field as a screen for a night projection. On the snowed-screen he projected the trees from around the field where the performance took place. The projection created an open air cinema. Entering in the shaped ‘screen’ he walked in a rectangular path from the edge to the centre, destroying the intact surface and in the same time building a new one, such a construction through deconstruction. Filming it from above I treated the screen as a canvas, and in this way the video becomes a painting that is gradually completing itself by the action in it.
‘THE PLUNGE’ (dv, color, sound, 6min) shows again the process of “building by destroying”.
In this piece Pavel Braila used paper, he chose this material because it is one of the oldest medium to spread information and because the artist likes to work with this clean, flexible and noisy material.
The ‘Plunge’ also starts from a white ”stage” (screen/canvas) - a point zero, composed of a pile of 105 white sheets of paper, 4x3m each. The action is filmed from above, the performer is lying on the white surface. Action begins as an exploration of an existing surface by ripping, squeezing, and stretching sheet after sheet. The space is being constantly distorted and transformed, the performer never stops, longing to grab another layer, the process of creative destruction keeps going on. The series of paintings “My Father’s Dreams” is related to the hopes of Pavel Braila’s father towards him when he was younger, at different stages of his childhood. “My father had many aspirations but never thought that his son’s career would be related to art. When I became established as an artist, my father somehow acknowledged my choice, but I could still feel the “generation gap” and see his scepticism towards my work. “What kind of artist are you if you cannot paint a portrait?” I decided to commission a professional painter to ‘realize’ some of the dreams my father had for me. What were those dreams? When I was in a cradle?
Cosmonaut. When I was a bad pupil in elementary school? Refueler at a petrol station or a watch repairer. While I was still in school, he wanted my sister to play the Violin and me to play the accordion, as our elder cousins were doing. Before I went to university, my father wanted me to study agronomy and to become eventually a Winemaker-Engineer etc. etc.” COSMONAUT
“I was born in Soviet Union in 1971, ten years after Gagarin became the first human being in space and the first to orbit the Earth, it was the beginning of a new era and being a cosmonaut was the most desired profession. I was sleeping in a cradle, my father was a young doctor, the radio was talking about Soviet space program, so my father was dreaming that one day his son will become the first cosmonaut from Moldova“
REFUELLER AT A PETROL STATION / WATCH REPAIRER
“When I was about to finish elementary school, my father had to abandon his highest hopes for me. Once, he told me that he could get me a job in a Petrol Station, “it’s a easy job and doesn’t need specific education” he said. Another option was to become a mechanic in a watch repair shop. At that time in the Soviet Union those jobs were better paid than a doctor. Still after this discussion I decided to do my best and go to University.