20 January – 15 April 2023
For the past 25 years, Yelena Yemchuk has been pushing the boundaries of contemporary photography and film. What first appears to be a simple image reveals, upon closer examination, great complexity of narrative and production. Yemchuk carries out her artistic vision by working in series, questioning the validity of a single perceptual possibility. Yemchuk’s exhibition includes two veins of her studio practice: photography and film.
For Odesa, which highlights four years of work in the southern city, Yemchuk photographed the city and its inhabitants. The series encompasses youth, landscapes, and quirky urban details. Yemchuk explores the subject of Ukraine in a post-Soviet time, living conditions in post-communist Eastern Europe, and the fallen ideals of the Soviet Union.
Malanka, Yemchuk’s latest film, depicts a visitor to Ukraine’s Carpathian Mountains, looking for someone during the festive New Year’s Eve folk holiday. As he travels from village to village in his search, surreal images of masks and costumes abound. Occasional fade-outs and fade-ins to the main character are used to represent a unique point of view. Time becomes a topic as the story travels forward, yet for certain locations in the film it stands still. This is the world premiere of Malanka.
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Yelena Yemchuk immigrated to the United States with her parents when she was eleven. She went on to study at both Parsons School of Art and Design, New York, and ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena. Her work has been published in The New Yorker, Another Magazine, ID, Dazed & Confused, and Italian, British, and Japanese Vogue, among others.
For more info, please visit: birdinflight.com/nathnennya-2/project-uk/pobachiti-odesu-i-zavmerti.html
Yelena Yemchuk is funded in part by:
