13.01.2023

"We need to fight, not give up, do something, and everything will work out. Well, if not, kill them all, wolf!"

Vova Perkin and Dima Makonda on the "Day of the Utopian" exhibition


The "Day of the Utopian", a group exhibition of the collective "Our Utopia", is being held at the Nakovalnya. Below, the curators and direct participants of the exhibition, Vova Perkin and Dima Makonda, talk about some of the works of the exhibition and the concept of the utopian world they are building on their canvases.
"Day of the Utopian"
by Vova Perkin, Dima Makonda, Liza Plaksa

Перкин: Коллектив «Наша утопия» работает уже шесть лет. Мы все самоучки, и на протяжении этих лет из разных городов — Казань, Омск, Нижний Новгород — к нам присоединяются разные художники.

Это главная работа выставки. Это мануфактура «Глазной зной», прототип которой есть у нас в Нарофоминске, там наша мастерская. И это праздничная фотография коллектива на День Утописта. Здесь изображены авторы — Лиза Плакса, Дима Маконда, Вова Перкин, во главе всех стоит Утопист, Завхоз — это Виктор Гоппе, который занимается у нас скульптурой; Доктор Робот — это Андрей Бартенев, Мэтр — Сергей Борисов, они тут зашифрованы как наши учителя.

Маконда: Каждый из нас троих сделал по 12 персонажей. Какие-то имеют имена, какие-то нет.

Перкин: Где-то это, например, это автопортреты Лизы. Глазная мануфактура — имени Мухи-Цокотухи, она первая коллекционерка нашего творчества. Утопист это просто Утопист, прототипа у него нет. Он директор мануфактуры который строит планы — утописты любят строить планы — которые нужно выполнять. У них вообще выходных нет — только День Утописта, в остальное время они работают, расширяют свое сознание и занимаются искусством.

Девиз «Мы новый мир построим» внизу — на одном из зданий в Нарофоминске есть такая мозаика, одна из самых больших в России. Вот так сошлось, что мы там начали обитать, и «Наша утопия» — это как раз постройка мира, где мы друг друга дополняем.
"Princess Kapustinya"
Archiliky
Perkin: Cabbage is a great—grandmother who invented the myth that people find in cabbage. She promotes cabbage and loves cutting it. But he understands it too literally — he sews himself dresses from cabbage.…

Archilitsky's other work at the exhibition is "This is disassembly, Suzdal". We once went to Suzdal, and at the confessional furnace, Archiliky resisted, fought, and fought a bug for a whole night... and eventually was reborn. He has been painting for a long time, but then there was a complete transformation of his style, personality, everything.
"The wonderful forest in your head"
Yura Zabse
Perkin: This is Yura Zabse, an artist from Omsk. The work is about the fact that when you go to the forest, you think that you are looking for mushrooms, but in fact everyone is watching you, thousands of eyes. If you look at a tree, you'll see such a face there that…

Zabse: The forest has its own world. You came there to get mushrooms, and then you need to get out of it yourself.
"The False Note"
by Liza Plaksa

Perkin: On Utopian Day, the goat choir performs very fresh, harmonious music, but the wolf in goat skin is out of tune with his growling, and some goats are already beginning to realize that something is wrong.… On the other hand, you might think that sometimes you want to be in some circle where you are not accepted, they say that you are fake. But you have to fight, not give up, do something, and everything will work out. Well, if not, kill them all, wolf!

Perkin: On the right, Andrey Bartenev, his psychedelic self-portrait. These red balls from his fingers are the paintings that appeared on the next wall... "Village Circus" is my series about rural chapiteau. One day I found myself in a village near Narofominsk, where clowns built a circus in a house. And after their introduction, I introduced them as a Gang of Fly Agarics. These are such manege paintings - no matter how you turn them, there will be a new character every time. In general, it would be great if they were spinning, but we didn't have time to do that.…
"Without an audience"
by Seryozha Fili
Perkin: These are the works of Seryozha Fili, they depict bananas, he always draws them because he looks a bit like such a strange, uncooperative banana... The idea is that we are the first audience at these performances — at hockey and in the puppet theater. Notre Utopie — "Our utopia" in French, that's what we were originally called.
"Excellent choice"
Dima Makonda
Makonda: After a hard day, a resident of the coastal territories went to get a cigarette. These are some boxes that contain carbon monoxide. You can give it to a friend or keep it for yourself — but the main thing is not to overdo it, otherwise you can lose face or sink through the ground. This is a kind of stand for alcohol, like a kiosk, like our store where you can buy cigarettes with beer, it's the same here, only in our world it happens like this… I sometimes call my style a futuristic splint, which is why you can see such a cosmic heroine here, but with a wreath on her head.
"You're somewhere"
by Liza Laksa
Perkin: It's such a mysterious job: I even asked Lisa to tell me about it, and she says there are so many mysteries here that I can't tell you. He's waiting for someone, or he's eaten someone, or he's gone... but the cup is worth it. He's done something wrong!
A hall with graphics by Dima Rae at the "Day of the Utopian" exhibition
"I'll start on Monday"
by Liza Plaksa
Perkin: This is Grisha the wolf, who ate too much fat at night and wanted to start training on Monday. Like the "False Note", this is such an encouraging picture — try again, don't give up on yourself, you can always start again.
"It's already dawn. There is no fever. Hello to Mom at home"
Vova Perkin, Dima Makonda, Liza Plaksa
Perkin:All the goats were kicked out of the ugar tent in the morning and closed it, and now they are scattering, starting to bully. Some wolf cub is trying to put some kid in a taxi with him.…

Makonda: And on the right it's kind of like a stop. There are such albums with photographs of Soviet bus stops, some look like some kind of flying saucers - and this is a reference to them. A spaceship crashed, and it was turned into a stop.
"Night hunting"
by Yura Zabse
Perkin: It's a picture of what happens at home when you go to bed. Who is operating in your apartment — cats, dogs, what kind of movements, permutations, cracks, grunts. When we fall asleep, other personalities wake up, cats and dogs get on top of each other...
"The Utopian Christmas Tree" and Dima Maconda's series "The Bright Sun of the Desert"
Makonda: I've been painting the "Bright Desert Sun" series on the sly since 2020. It shows the cyclical nature of time around the ugara tent, as the sun moves over it in such an old, fabulous style. Each canvas is a separate month. And the moon is our eternal companion, it just has to be here. And she's two-faced.

Perkin: And this is our Christmas tree. All our Utopians are gathered here.: at the head is an electric utopian cat, a love utopian, a cloudy, polar, aerophobic, a toots utopian.
"Ghoul rebels robbing a wagon train"
by Dima Makonda

Perkin: The picture about this exhibition is how we loaded the paintings into a wagon train and rode it here. In general, it's about the constant transportation of things — and there are ghouls around who interfere with these crossings, putting sticks in the wheels.…

Makonda: Artists and transportation are always connected, and it's a constant headache. Square wheels are an association with certain inconveniences that often occur in the process: for example, extra movers arrived and you didn't get into the car because of them, or the car arrived less than necessary.…

Perkin: ...but the main thing here is the treasure trove in the wagon train. Here she is with art, but generally everyone has their own. And every person carries it all his life, puts everything in there, puts it in.... and then he passes it on. And that's it!