Torso No.1 and Torso No.2

Pair ruins-like torsos. The metal reimagination of the heritage of antiquity.

In world culture, the practice of referring to antiquity exists primarily as a tradition of academic education. The works of the Ancient Greek and Roman art have been used as samples for copying and aesthetic canons by generations of artists. This practice helps to conduct the dialogue with the past and to keep the sense of the integrity of history.

The aesthetics of antiquity give a monumentalist a great opportunity to make a tremendous impression. Thus, in the women’s torsos by Dmitry Zhukov one can unmistakably guess the dynamics of the Nike of Samothrace. However, the sculptor is not limited to direct quotation, he reconsiders antiquity through the prism of the Romantic era.

Like a Romantic artist, the sculptor aestheticizes fragmentation and destruction. Working on a metal sheet, he outlines the folds of fabric and the volume of bodies. But the sculptures remain hollow, which increases the overall impression of incompleteness of form. However, even turned into metal ruins, these eternal images remain impressive, affirming the paradoxical life after life, the elusive beauty of decay.