Will Kiev speak with a Moscow accent?

KIEV. January 11 in Kiev, a lecture was held by contemporary Moscow artist Cyril Who. The theme of the speech, held at the Center for Visual Culture, located within the walls of the Zhovten cinema, was street art and its brainchild - the artistic development of the architectural landscape of modern cities.

In a world where faceless corporations rule and commerce flourishes, it is increasingly difficult for ordinary people to survive. Aggressive advertising, obsessive stereotypes of beautiful life, fashion for a one-time and complete desolation of the Eternal…

Art does not have the right to stand aside, fencing itself off from what is happening with the cozy walls of beautiful museums! Art must defend the rights of ordinary people whose aesthetic taste is brought up daily in those landscapes that open on the way to work or study!

The lecture by Cyril Who was more practical. The artist shared his experience of the “guerrilla warfare” with the facelessness of gray cities, strategies for capturing the most neglected and dull sections of it. As vivid examples, the master presented photographs of his works made in various styles of modern street art.

The active position of the artist is clear. Creative people are the creative power of the world. And the result of their labors should be available not only to a handful of the elite, but to every person who has eyes and is able to see. Even a smiley painted clumsily on a gray concrete wall can make passersby smile. And works of art, made much more skillfully, can make you laugh and be sad, and even rethink your whole life!

Eve Istr