Orange
Alexeev Nikita (1953)
2014 | 32 x 24 cm
Pencil, ink, and watercolor on paper
Museum of Contemporary Art
MCA.SMCA.C316
Donation of the artist
ARTWORK DETAILS
Series: Platonic Love
Type: Drawing
Subject: Still life, Object, Painting
ARTWORK DESCRIPTION
The section titled "Platonic Eros" refers to Plato's Symposium and the Neoplatonic theories about the "Form" as the archetype of all thoughts, concepts, things, and their reflections. This reflection, which appears incomplete and sinks deeper into the abyss of the material world, suffers and seeks to reunite with the fullness of the "Form." This process gives rise to "Platonic Eros". The artist selects various pairs of objects to illustrate this theory, categorizing them into three groups: the natural (stone, seashell, branch, tomato, carrot), the utilitarian (knife, fork, spoon), and the personal (toothbrush, wallet, key). Thus, during their presentation, the two identical artistic objects are placed, in this specific case, the two drawings of the orange, and between them, in physical form, is the presumed "Form" of them, an actual orange.
CREATOR
Nikita Alexeev was an artist and author born in Moscow. He studied at the Institute of Graphic Arts and, from a young age, became interested in contemporary Western art, modern poetry, emerging trends in visual arts, and music. He quickly became a part of Moscow's circle of conceptual artists. He was a founding member of the "Collective Actions" group, which organized over 120 actions, and was one of the organizers of the Archive of New Art in Moscow. In 1982, he established the "ARTART" gallery in his Moscow apartment, which served as a venue for innovative artistic activities. From 1987 to 1993, he lived in France. Throughout his career, Nikita Alexeev published articles, essays, and his memoirs in books, as well as in print and online media.