Petr Lovigin, What a wonderful World! My Louis!, archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper, ed. 3/3, 40x50cm, 2012 Dream a Little Dream of Me Petr Lovigin solo exhibition Vernissage friday 12 June 5-9pm From 13 June to 6 September 2015 thursday to sunday, from 10am to 9pm ifa gallery will be closed from 22 nd of July to 20 th August 2015
Dream a Little Dream of Me Dream a Little Dream of Me is the title of the exhibition of the photographic works of Petr Lovigin. It is also an invitation to take a wandering trip through a fantasyland created by the artist. In his first series called Fall in Love, Pietr Lovigin deals with analogue black and white photography. A couple seems to float through surrealist situations, as if in a dream guided only by themselves. They stand away from everyday life and invite us to share their imagination. In 2011, Petr Lovigin moves on to digital colour photography, accompanied by a complex, manual work of photomontage and successive filters. In the series What a Wonderful World! My Louis!, the artist unfolds his fantasy landscapes inspired by his native Russia on a backdrop taken from a Tibetan prayer book. Amongst this wanders Louis Armstrong, the jazz icon, carrying a suitcase. Or rather, a young Louis reincarnated in the fantasy world of Petr Lovigin. The image is both rigorously constructed the artist has an architectural education- and interpreted through a fantasy vision, imbued with elements such as Russian traditional motifs or incongruous figures. Hovering between nostalgia and sophisticated technique, between universalism and his Russian references, Petr Lovigin exhibits his photographic work that he calls his soul kitchen. Petr Lovigin is an artist born in 1981 in Yaroslavl in Russia. He is one of the most celebrated bloggers of the young Russian generation. His visually forceful works have twice graced the covers of Courrier International. This is his first solo show in Belgium, whilst his photographic series have already been presented including recently at the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, at the Moscow PhotoBiennale, at the Museum of Modern Art of Istanbul, as well as in Paris, Rome, Munich, Israel and China. This exhibition has been organised with the kind collaboration of www.clair.me
Petr seemed so far away from everyday life that I tried to drive him into a corner to understand if his world, his planet, was a way of protecting himself from reality, from the true world. I asked him if he regretted the fact that he wasn t in Russia while the streets of Moscow were going up in flames with protest. Petr then sent me an email, nearly a letter: Anna, I m aware of the dollar and euro exchange rate. I know about all the universal catastrophes and the football results. It s just that in my world the reality becomes the tale, and the tale mixes with reality. In this universe figures from the real world like Sathya Sai Baba, Takeshi Kitano and Leo Tolstoy or the young Louis Armstrong all live with us. There is a lot of space in this world, and space for looking at things. There are certainly more than two ways of being in the world, like there are maybe two Lovigins: one quite romantic and ironic, as you say, in his virtual and photographic world, and the other one more cynical, with his doubts and his flaws. And I don t know which one is closest to who I am. Getting to know Petr Lovigin, he who dreams what s real, happened step by step and goes on picture by picture. You come out invigorated and sure once again that dreaming ensures freedom. Anna-Patricia Kahn, Saint-Paul de Vence «Planet Lovigin», publisher Verlag 2012, p.8 Petr Lovigin, Falling in love, archival pigment print on Hahnemühle paper, 40x50cm, edition 3/3, 2006
Petr Lovigin Born in 1981 in Yaroslav (Russia). Petr Lovigin studied architecture at the Yaroslavl Technical University before taking up photography. His work accentuates the unique beauty of Russia through unexpected cultural contrasts. Lovigin wants to show how his country should be perceived abroad. His creativity through his photomontage is closely connected to music, especially the jazz and Louis Amstrong. Since 2006 his photography series have been shown in numerous exhibitions, most recently at the Museum of Photography Thessaloniki, the Photo-biennale in Moscow and the Istanbul Modern Art Museum. Petr Lovigin currently lives and works in Moscow (Russia). exhibitions 2015 «Dream a little dream of me», ifa gallery, Brussels, Belgium 2014 Mia Art Fair, Galerie ºCLAIR booth, Singapore 2013 Art Paris, Galerie CLAIR booth, Paris, France 2013 Art Paris, Galerie CLAIR, Paris, France 2013 «My Louis», MAMM, Moscow, Russia 2013 «Winter trip through a dozen of Latin America s countries», MMMA, Moscow, Russia 2012 «Planet Lovigin», Russian Culture Centre, Rome, Italia 2012 «Solo Show Planet Lovigin», Galerie CLAIR, Munich, Germany 2012 «Babie leto», Gallery Meglinskaya, Moscow, Russia 2012 Avant Première of Planet Lovigin at ART PARIS, Galerie CLAIR, Paris, France 2011 Lovigin s Arbeit wird bei ART Paris, Galerie CLAIR, Paris, France 2012 «Time within us», Museum of Thessaloniki, Gallery-na-Solyanke, Istanbul Modern Art Museum, Turquie 2009 «Wolf with Emerald Heart ( CLAIR)», Gallery Meglinskaya, Moscow, Russia 2009 «Takeshi Kitano and other icons», Galerie CLAIR, Munich, Germany 2009 «On the road», Passage de Retz, Paris, France 2009 «On the road», Ashdod Museum of Art, Israel 2009 «Fall in love» Fashion and style in Photography, MMOMA, Moscow, Russia 2008 «Takeshi Kitano and other icons» Moscow Photo-biennale, James,Russia 2008 «Simple motions Jamaica» Festival International of Photography, Pinqyao, China 2008 «Simple motions Jamaica» Photo-biennale, Tsereteli Gallery, Moscow, Russia 2007 «Takeshi Kitano and other icons/ part 2», Loft Project Etaji, St.-Petersburg, Russia 2007 «Takeshi Kitano and other icons», Nabokov s Museum, St.-Petersburg, Russia 2007 «Costarica-Jamaica», Fotodepartament, S.-Petersburg, Russia 2006 «Costarica-Soul», Arsforum, Yaroslavl, Russia
publications P.LOVIGIN «Planet Lovigin», Kehrer Verlag, 2012 P.LOVIGIN «Indian Summer», Evgeniy Grishkovets, 2012 P.LOVIGIN «Odnovremenno», Maxaon, 2009 P.LOVIGIN «Costarica-soul», Maxaon, 2009 Hardcover, 24 x 22cm, 112 pages, 53 colour illustrations, English/French Publisher: Kehrer Verlag, Author: Petr Lovigin, Texts by Anna-Patricia Kahn, Petr Lovigin ISBN 978-3-86828-287-0 40euros available for sale at ifa gallery
ifa gallery ifa gallery is established by Alexis Kouzmine-Karavaïeff in 2006-2007 in a 700sqm converted textile factory space in Moganshan Road M50 Creative Centre Shanghai s contemporary art district. With a quality exhibition programme of principally Chinese contemporary art, and a supporting line-up of performances the gallery contributes to the dynamism of the area. Major exhibitions during that time include the solo shows of Park Sung-Tae (Korea) and sought-after young artist Liu Bolin (China). From summer 2008 to summer 2013, ifa occupies a charming residence built in 1923 for an official of the British Customs House, located in Shanghai at 621 Changde Road (Jing'An district). The gallery offers an innovative and artistic angle to the central part of the city and acted as an artistic meeting point for contemporary art in Shanghai. Fall 2013, ifa gallery moves its premises to the heart and capital of Europe, Brussels. Located in the old central district of Marolles, the gallery offers a dynamic programme with its main artists from China and new artists from the region. At the meantime, a new exhibition space opens in March 2014 in the district of Jing An in Shanghai, where ifa gallery continues to showcase some local artists. ifa gallery exhibits contemporary art from China and Beyond, regardless of artists origin. We represent both established artists such as Dai Guangyu, a leading figure of China s avant-garde, the Gao Brothers and Wu Junyong; as well as emerging artists, including recent graduates of the fine arts schools in Beijing and Hangzhou such as Fan Jiupeng and Li Rui, or foreigners based in China, such as Zane Mellupe from Latvia or Christophe Demaître from Belgium. CLAIR CLAIR Gallery specialises in fine art photography and hosts exhibitions worldwide. Our gallery was founded in 2008 Munich, Germany by Anna-Patricia Kahn and Markus Penth. It is dedicated to representing and supporting classical and contemporary photographers and their estates. CLAIR opened a second gallery in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Côte d Azur, in 2011 to respond to growing demand. The CLAIR Gallery represents some of the most important photographers of the 20th and 21st century including Phillipe Halsman, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Alvin Langdon Coburn, and Lee Miller. It also represents elite contemporary photographers such as Oliver Mark and Petr Lovgin, while also working closely with photographers from the prestigious Magnum Agency.
contact Alexis Kouzmine-Karavaïeff director alexis@ifa-gallery.com +32 485 71 98 51 ifa gallery brussels rue des renards / vossenstraat 28 Angélique Demur 1000 brussels, belgium associate director brussels contact@ifa-gallery.com angelique@ifa-gallery.com +32 2 502 40 58 +32 475 86 36 60 open from thursdays to sundays from 10am to 7pm ifa gallery shanghai 733 wanhangdu road shanghai 200040, china contact@ifa-gallery.com +86 187 2193 0368 Open on appointment