'It was my attempt to overcome the state of anxiety, depression and even despair that I am filled with – well, not me personally, but any person living here and now', Haim Sokol

‘Transformation as a form of resistance’ is a two-act project by Haim Sokol, exploring the ideas of transmutations and borderline  states – between human and animal, female and male, animate and inanimate, homely and creepy, past and present. 

The artist speaks not about biological or psychological transformations, but more about metaphors or allegories, creating poetic objects and conventional spaces with fragile figurative sensuality, resembling decorations. This is why the exhibition is somehow theatrical, showcasing a two-act mystery. When one’s reality is full of anxiety, fear, trauma and alienation, the only escape is transformation, that offers salvation and relief and gives power to fight. 

The project goes beyond the walls of sterile 'white cube' gallery and continues in the former Lopukhins-Naryshkin mansion, where the Third Place cultural space is located.

The first act takes place in the sterile ‘white cube’ gallery space, where we face the setting of an enchanted forest with nuclear colours of pink, green and blue. The emphasis of the act is on the mutation of a man into a bird, particularly into a crow, and vice versa.

The culmination of project is 12 metres graffiti on the pink wall wtih a number of protographic symbols that appear in every project by Haim: trunk, crows, ladder, coat, chair, black sun. There is author's writing on the sterile white wall.

disinfection

disinsection

Leave me my silence my mooing my speaking my accent my jargon my parasites

Take away your perfection

The installation is based on the memories of the artist's father: in 1941, as an eleven-year-old boy, he fled from the city occupied by the Germans into the woods, where he had to hide for several days. However, this work goes far beyond the autobiographical narrative. When working with the past as a collective and individual experience, Haim also tries to comprehend the historical nature of his own subjectivity through assimilation. The artistic  images and messages proceed from an extremely personal and subjective worldview, albeit in a collective sense. 

Upon entrance the vistors face the red carpet and theatrical curtain made of dirty rags. In the past, the main staircase, were used by the Royals, aristocracy and their guests, now became site-specific installation devoted to the suppressed ones who worked so hard to build  the cultural heritage – including the Lopukhins-Naryshkin mansion. The entire space is endowed with theatricality so typical for Haim's work who continues his search for new forms at the intersection of perfomance and visual arts.

You will be tested every day. Your thoughts, your race, your gender. If you do not pass the test, you will be isolated, disinfected and killed if  needed for public safety. 

Collectors Lounge is a space on the third floor of the Anna Nova Gallery where collectors, designers and architects can gather. The Lounge's interior is carefully created to showcase the perfect combitation of contemporary art works and design objects. The constantly changing exposition consists of works by the gallery's artists.