Drawing, 5 x (75 x 55 cm).
© Nikita Kadan. Photo: Pat Verbruggen
Collection: Collection M HKA / Collection Flemish Community (Inv. no. BK007959).
The Spectators is a series of portraits of 'public enemies' from the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1934, the constructivist artist Aleksander Rodchenko was commissioned to create an anniversary album to commemorate 10 years of Soviet rule in Uzbekistan. However, during the 1937-1938 period, some of Uzbekistan's top government officials, whose photographs had been published in the album, fell from grace. In his author's copy of the album, Rodchenko painted in ink the faces of the political prisoners because even possessing portraits of “public enemies” could lead to arrest. According to Kadan, the black spots on the faces of the commissioners are themselves portraits of sorts, faces of the spirits of history observing the augmentation of its ruins.
Add to your list>
>Nikita Kadan, The Spectators, 2016 (1/5)
>Nikita Kadan, The Spectators, 2016 (2/5)
>Nikita Kadan, The Spectators, 2016 (3/5)
>Nikita Kadan, The Spectators, 2016 (4/5)
>Nikita Kadan, The Spectators, 2016 (5/5)
> Nikita Kadan / Нікіта Кадан.
Nikita Kadan is a Ukrainian visual artist who is confronted with how he as an artist must form his own socio
> Exhibition: Imagine Ukraine – The Artist as a Witness. European Parliament, Brussels, 05 May 2022 - 21 August 2022.
> Exhibition: Nikita Kadan – The Possessed Can Witness in the Court. M HKA, Antwerp, 20 January 2018 - 29 April 2018.
No image
> Exhibition: Museum in Motion - Nikita Kadan. M HKA, Antwerp, 16 September 2022 - 08 January 2023.
> Exhibition: Museum in Motion. M HKA, Antwerp, 16 September 2022 - 08 January 2023.
> Ensemble: Aanwinsten 2017 [Acquisitions 2017].
No image
> Ensemble: In Solidarity with Ukraine.
> Ensemble: Уяви Україну – Митець як свідок / Imagine Ukraine – The Artist as a Witness.
No image
> Ensemble: IMAGINE UKRAINE - Exhibitions.
> Ensemble: NUCLEUS.
No image
> Ensemble: M HKA_DEFAULT_WORKS.