I AM NOT I | BORIS MIKHAILOV

Boris Mikhailov’s artistic practice is driven by the need to study and depict social and political issues related to his country, Ukraine, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Mikhailov’s exploration, undertaken through various expressive means, pays particular attention to photography, owing to its inherent serial formal characteristic. What emerges is an inclination for experimentation and the belief that a single image cannot contain all the information or “absolute truth”: to thoroughly explore a particular theme, it must be observed from multiple angles.

In the series I am not I, Mikhailov constructs a set of provocative and ironic self-portraits that reinterpret the idealized hero figure of the Soviet regime, with caricatured poses, sometimes contemplative, sometimes athletic, but all significantly divergent from the traditionally imposed male stereotype. This theatrical and anti-heroic interpretation aims to expose reality – as naked as the protagonist on the scene – and bring to light, through his body and actions, the social contradictions, challenging the superficial narrative and the collective imagery associated with the regime.

To focus attention on the character and movements, Mikhailov chooses an extremely clean setting: a black background and strong lighting concentrated on the naked and pale figure of the artist/performer. There are few props that contribute to the narrative – a wig, a stool, a sex toy, a small sword, an enema bag – and these are used in turn to support the story chosen by the artist each time.
The pose that should appear proud and chivalrous – an arm raised holding a sword and a gaze directed towards the sky – instead seems desperate, if not downright miserable. The reversal carried out by Mikhailov does not lose, despite the obvious absurdity of the contrast, the elegant and artificial movement of the ‘studio’ portrait.
Mikhailov’s ironic, if not cynical, approach finds in these ‘naked kings’ the synthesis of power and its partisan and self-celebratory representation.

The artwork is currently showed at the Palazzo Esposizioni in Rome until January 28, 2024, as part of the solo exhibition Boris Mikhailov: Ukrainian Diary, curated by Laurie Hurwitz in collaboration with Boris and Vita Mikhailov.

Boris Mikhailov
I am not I, from the series I am not I, 1992
Gelatin silver print toned sepia
© Boris Mikhailov, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn Germany | © Boris Mikhailov, by SIAE 2023. Courtesy Boris and Vita Mikhailov

01/11/2023