Why Context Is the Most Dangerous Part of This Exhibition

Antgelina Aganina is a Russian artist born in 1987 in Saratov. She previously volunteered with the Movement of Sex Workers and their supporters, Silver Rose, which advocates for the protection of health, dignity, and human rights of sex workers. The exhibition The Female Image. The Archetype search, created by the artist in collaboration with the Silver Rose movement, reflected the issues that sex workers face every day.

Fig.1. Cover for the Exhibition Booklet. Antgelina Aganina

Fig.2. Antgelina Aganina. Photo by Kristina Malahova

Intense Sense of Excitement

I once came to understand that art is largely about context — the context of the artist (the circumstances in which they work and their feelings about the themes they explore) and the context of the viewer (the circumstances in which they live, how they encounter the artwork, and the general emotional state they are in at that moment). This idea may be the simplest explanation for why the same piece of art can appear differently at various moments in your life: your circumstances may have changed, or you may simply feel differently than you did when you first encountered it.

The artist’s context and your own are often so different that they rarely coincide. When they do, however, the result can be an intense sense of excitement — a feeling of connection with both the artist and their work. A similar excitement can arise when you are able to imagine and understand the artist’s context, even when it lies far beyond your own experience.

One of the simplest ways to understand the artist’s context is to turn to the exhibition booklet. Let’s do it together.

Fig.3. The Eye

Frightening

The themes touched upon in the works of Aganina are relevant and demonstrate the role of women in the world trend of gender equalization. Her work, attractive and frightening at the same time, captivates the viewer in the surreal world of feelings and experiences of the artist.

Fig.4. To snack

Conditioned Preparation

The main characters of the paintings are women, and often only parts of their body, over which a certain conditioned preparation is performed. Through these, sometimes terrible images, the author tells about the problems of modern relations both between men and women in particular, and in society as a whole.

Fig.5. The Male Sex Work

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