vertex

Andrey Gorbunov

June 6 — June 29, 2014
Triumph gallery

In his works, the Petersburg artist Andrey Gorbunov often takes as his starting point physiology and anatomy, touching upon the theme of the relationship between science and art. In his new series of works, Vertex, Gorbunov examines the issue of the relative absoluteness of human knowledge.

Like ferrofluid, changing its form under the influence of a magnetic field, our knowledge is subject to external influences. Despite its apparent stability, it remains pliable and any action from without results in its deformation.

Transformation – 5
2013–2014
Acrylic, paper, marker, lacquer on canvas
180 × 180 cm

Like ferrofluid, changing its form under the influence of a magnetic field, our knowledge is subject to external influences. Despite its apparent stability, it remains pliable and any action from without results in its deformation.

In Gorbunov’s works, the crystal structures, seemingly solid and monolithic, allegorically represent various stages in the transformation of scientific knowledge. Comprising within themselves complex, interwoven anatomical layouts, they illustrate the continuity of the process of change in conceptions of a man’s external and internal worlds.

Andrey Gorbunov says: 'The exhibition’s title is invested with two main ideas. Firstly, the concept of the vertex is used in polygonal 3D modeling. It’s a point in space with precisely defined coordinates on the x, y and z axes. The movement of this point influences the resulting transformation of the shape. Secondly, the vertex is the center of the revolution of the sky, the point in the celestial sphere to which all the peculiar movements of the stars are directed. The combination of these two ideas is very symbolic for this project. The specific and the universal as the beginning and the end of knowledge'.