Gennadiy Chernega: Stray Dog Story
© Gennadiy Chernega "Stray Dog"
Walking 'Stray Dog'
I do know Gennadiy for a couple of years. When we firstly met, I was giving a lecture on the history of cinema, and he came to the venue to learn something from it. We talked about the power of visuality and consequences of images. We stuck to each other at different art events in Kiev for a couple of times, and gradually changed the roles in our communication - Gennadiy started to educate me explaining the possibilities to influence the spectator and modify his perception of reality. I’ve got impressed by that, while Gennadiy seemed to be trying to avoid the direct usage of such tools. I suppose due to the particularities of his job, he realized in full the breaking power hidden in that, so now he always is gentle to anybody’s mind. At the same time, Gennadiy considers the inner world of each human being to be very fragile and easy to destroy. So in his works, he gives accent to this tenderness and to the appalling impact any kind of war provides on people’s souls. Being attentive to details he underlines those tiny and intimate moments which later provoke the thunderstorm of changes in the society. Private life, childhood, abandoned dogs - everything is important if we reconsider them through the prism of cruel social events.
What is also important to underline - that's a special format Gennadiy uses to present his works. It is an ongoing traveling project. No galleries - at least in their traditional comprehension.
To see the photos and to hear the story you need to arrange a meeting with the author, literary to walk 'Stray Dog'. This intimate conversation and viewing really provide a breathtaking effect.
Recently I was lucky enough to walk "Stray Dog" by Gennady Chernega.
Feelings and emotions are awesome, completely different from those that you normally get at the exhibition.
Sinyagur
Curator
VASA curator Sinyagur with artist
Gennadiy Chernega
On VASA Exhibitions:
VASA Exhibitions over the years have provided a platform for individual and group exhibitions, collaborative exhibitions with various organizations and galleries and exhibitions that follow a particular theme or inquiry such as “Where Do We Go Now” curated by Rui Cepeda and the “Kharkiv School of Photography: Soviet Censorship to New Aesthetics” curated by Igor Manko.
VASA Exhibitions are international and multicultural. The curatorial team has strived to present work that not only represents the photographers but also the social, historical and cultural. As an online international project, VASA works to engage various digital tools. Video, as an example, not only offers the potential for the presentation of works, it provides the opportunity and framework for the voice of the author to be seen and heard. Through image, text, sound and animation, VASA works to expand the exhibition paradigm and provide a rich experience for the viewer (as well as the author).
VASA Exhibitions provides a viewing and research environment by archiving all of the exhibitions in their entirety. For example, the viewer may view a 2009 exhibition as it was presented and not just traces of its existence.
VASA Exhibitions (a program in VASA) includes images, videos and sound works.