For the gallery’s first participation in Liste we are exhibiting a solo presentation of the work of Belarusian artist Gleb Amankulov consisting of the image series ‘Lasso’ and related sculptural assemblages, created at the booth on site, in reflection on the political and legal realms in today’s Belarus.
In conjunction with the broader performative aspect of his practice regarding the object gathering for his sculptural assemblages, Amankulov further engages with the concept of ‘search’ in the context of the law and its manifestation of authority and power. As a demonstration of this wielding of power within the Belarusian regime, the first section of the display consists of the piece ‘Lasso’, composed of a series of photographs Amankulov has been collecting over the past several years from Telegram channels run by the Belarusian state security service documenting the destruction to citizens’ homes after being searched by the authorities in urban centers of Belarus. Through the editing of the images showing the destruction, Amankulov erases all parts that have been destroyed through the search and shows them in an empty white space. Concerning this documentation of the destruction Amankulov states:
“The search becomes another measure of exerting pressure on opponents of authorities, a violent act of intimidation, a demonstration of the impunity of the power structures, and takes place in flats and houses of political activists and their relatives en masse. This series of photographs display these apartments with the destruction blanked out.”
Alongside the presentation of these images, Amankulov has created new sculptural assemblages on site, imbued with an ephemerality that is both physical and conceptual. In this regard, the works are created from found objects and ultimately left unchanged in their materiality. The artist does not weld, break or otherwise render obsolete the original purpose of the object. The works themselves through the choice of objects and composition hold thematic references to domination and political suppression. Thus, exhibited alongside the image installation engage with a broader undertone to the political situation in Belarus.
