Like in Paris,Texas: colours and psychology


curator Matvey Durnenkov




The works I have selected for this exhibition touch on the same themes of my manifesto, such as connection to place, nostalgia, dreams. Tricycle by William Eggleston takes the viewer back to his childhood in the Memphis, Tennessee and liminal spaces by Steve Hiett conveys a sense of loneliness. They are in the form of colour photography, where colour is not just a detail but a metaphysical tool that conveys feelings, sensations, emotions, experiences and the author's personal view. One of the key works in this exhibition Xmas tree in a living room in Levittown by Diane Arbus reveals beauty in a seemingly poor dwelling. The ability to see beauty in the often pessimistic everyday life is very important to me. Some of these works such as Billy Mann by Larry Clark and Nan and Brian in Bed by Nan Golding show my interest in the psychological world of the characters, their histories and experiences. I am probably influenced by my father's dramaturgical training. It also excites me that colour can work as satire. So in Home Waters by Slim Aarons, colour creates a sense of such perfect artistry, like a doll's house in an upper-class world, that the photograph takes on a sarcastic-satirical pop art tone.

Matvey Durnenkov

William Eggleston
Greenwood, Mississippi, 1973
William Eggleston
Untitled from the series Dust Bells Volume 1, 1965-74
William Eggleston
Mississippi, 1971 - 1974
William Eggleston
Memphis (Tricycle), 1970
Steve Hiett
From the series Pleasure Places, 1976
Steve Hiett
From the series Pleasure Places, 1976
Steve Hiett
From the series Girls in the Grass, (?)
Diane Arbus
Xmas tree in a living room in Levittown, L.I, 1963
Stephen Shore
Main Street, Gull Lake, Saskatchewan, (p75), August 18, 1974
Larry Clark
Billy Mann,. from the series “Tulsa”, 1963/c. 1981
Nan Goldin
Nan and Brian in Bed, New York City, MOMA, 1983
Vivienne Maier
Chicago, 1975
Vivienne Maier
Self-portrait, Chicagoland, 1975
Michael Ormero
Girl Blowing Bubble Gum, South Dakota, USA, 1986
Slim Aarons
Home Waters, from the series La Dolche Vita, 1983