Alexei Kostroma

RED. Mein Kampf

This autobiographic series, which Alexei Kostroma shows for the first time at the Moscow Photobiennale, is a documentary representation of a particular event in the life of the artist. It depicts the tragic outcome of a fight with some neo-nazis, that took place in June 2005 in one of Berlin’s quiet parks.

Right after the incident, upon reaching his studio, Kostroma tried to stop the nosebleed with white feathers — his favorite material, which, like cotton wool, absorbed blood. Almost blindly, step by step, the artist photographed the process of «feathering» his disfigured face.

In his projects, created in the last couple of years, Kostroma often turns to the theme of pain, revealing the psychological state of an individual experiencing some spiritual crisis. Strange as it may seem, the pain and suffering of one man or woman may produce a stronger emotional reaction than the demonstration of scenes of mass violence or of numerous armed conflicts in different parts of the planet.

The exhibited photographs form a part of an interactive installation. The viewer is suddenly confronted by the opposition «red-white», and the real-life face to face encounter with images of brutality deeply affects all of us.

Nadia Bukreeva