01/24: Yuri Avvakumov - MiSCeLLaNeouS

02/24: Ilya Utkin - melancholy

Ilya Utkin (born 1955) is an architect and artist. He took part in all the Paper Architecture exhibitions in the 80's and 90's, and won prizes in ten international competitions for architectural ideas. Together with Alexander Brodsky he is the designer of 13 personal layouts in famous museums and galleries. Utkin's work can be seen in numerous private and public collections the world over. On 17 June 2000 at the opening of the VII International Exhibition of Architecture in Venice the jury awarded him a special prize for architectural photography.

"Melancholia" is one of Utkin's photographic series, an independent part of an installation of the same name on display at the Russian Pavilion in the Venice Biennial until the end of October. "Broken houses and churches, a medley of overturned beams and ceilings, layers of peeling plaster, holes, piles of smashed stone, earth, fallen leaves, dead trees. Total decay of the dying and the dead stands before us as a reminder - a memento mori. This is the classic theme of classic art, interpreted by an architect. And through this arises another level of perception of this boundless Ruin, reflecting in a concentrated form the architectural philosophy of this unusual master." (N. Dushkina).

"Melancholia is the inner contemplative condition of the soul. The focus of contemplation is the beauty of the decaying architectural flesh. The inevitability of beauty's departure from culture. The unrepeatable nature of time, stopped in an instant. Melancholia is a creative condition when pure and bright thoughts are born." (I. Utkin).