Nikita Shokhov (
Russian: Никита Константинович Шохов; born 1988) is a visual artist and filmmaker in virtual environments.[1][2][3] He received third prize in the
World Press Photo award, Staged Portrait: Stories category in 2014.
Shokhov works with both still and moving images. Throughout art projects, he explores the duality of body and mind, myth and reality, human nature, religions, history, and culture.[10] He works in collaboration with his spouse Anna Evtiugina who takes roles of co-author, and producer, depending on a project.[11][12]
The series "Moscow Nightlife" (2010–2015) is a study on human behavior. Shokhov spent several years documenting a demographically diverse range of Muscovites from hipsters to low class at different settings and different moments of their night out. Through Shokhov's sober eyes the partymakers appear similar to
carnival revelers in
Mikhail Bakhtin's philosophy works.[16][17][18]
Shokhov's thesis project at the Rodchenko Art School, the series "Rublevka" (2012–2013) was a visual research of a prestigious residential area of that name to the west of Moscow.
Rublevka is where the residencies of
nouveau riche are located and also the place with the highest social stratification in Russia. In his photo report, Shokhov captured the new elite, the ordinary inhabitants, and the
guest workers to highlight the threatening gap between extremely rich and incredibly poor.[19][20][21][22]
The series "Black Sea" (2011–2012) created at several
Black Sea resorts such as
Sochi and
Anapa was dedicated to Russian beach culture. It resembles
Martin Parr's photobook The Last Resort (1986) that represented working-class vacationers in the UK, and photographs by Sergey Rogozhkin on Black Sea beaches in the 1980s[23][24]
In the series "Utrich", Shokhov combined documentary and
staged photography methods to approach
Biblical motives. It was produced at Utrish national park on the northern shore of the Black Sea that has been a popular spot among nudists since the 1980s. Vacationers from the nudist camps were invited as models.[15][25][26][18][27]
The series "Children Personal Space" (2014) was a research on living space of young people and the way they interact with it with surreal scenarios shot in routine environments.[28]
In the series "Sacred Procession" (2012–2014), Shokhov approached religious processions in provincial towns, photographed candidly, bringing an unedited report.
A number of Shokhov's projects were dedicated to the contemporary Russian character.[8][29] He sampled the way of life of Russian people and their ties to national culture in the small towns of
Bologoe (shot in 2014) and Pereslavl-Zalessky (shot in 2013), a Sep village in
Udmurtia. In 2014, Shokhov took part in a large "Where Does the Motherland Begin?" national photographic project aimed to depict a variety of Russian traditions and overlapping of soviet and modern Russian culture.[30]
In the series "Scan" (2013–2016) Shokhov remained within the documentary tradition but went beyond the boundaries of direct photography. In that formal experiment, he used a
slit-scan photography technique to capture 40 seconds of reality in one image using a view camera with a
Better Light scanning back. Therefore, the moving objects, such as cars and people, undergo the process of plastic deformation while still objects such as architecture and landscapes appear as expected. Photographs of the "Scan" series portray processions, such as
Mardi Gras in
New Orleans,
Saint Patrick's Day in
Boston,
New York, and
Washington,
Victory parade, and communist demonstration in
Moscow and Velikoretsky Sacred Procession in
Kirov Oblast. With the use of this artistic technique, Shokhov added a new visual metaphor to the mass gathering, where individuality becomes blurred and distorted.[18][31][32]
The series "Flaming Motors" was captured at the
Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ) in
Nizhny Novgorod. The title refers to the figurative name, given to new Soviet plants at the time of mass industrialization. The series depicts industrial life through the prism of human-robot interaction. It also romanticizes the industrial buildings initially built for a solely functional reason and the cities that surround them.[33]
Visual installations and virtual environments
"The Last March" (2017) was a video installation created in collaboration with
Russian-American artist Naum Medovoy. The exhibition in
Moscow Museum of Modern Art presented Medovoy's graphic works and a film produced in memory of Soviet soldiers that were classified as missing in action, and the prisoners of war who were declared "Traitors to the Motherland" and sent to labor camps and Gulag. Shokhov presented two works. His film combined fragments of Medovoy's film with recently recorded footage of present-day Moscow and New York to highlight the gap between values of the mid-century and the present time. The second installation provided a contemporary interpretation of Medovoy's diaries and sketchbooks with a focus on women identity, stereotyping, and the tensions of daily life for a woman.[34][35]
The project "Ice" (2015—2017) was an
experimental film and immersive video installation by Shokhov, Andrey Kachalian, and Albina Mochryakova. It combined the features of narrative film,
documentary film, and
performance art. It explored concepts of carnivalesque, freedom, and physicality. The project was filmed at many nudist colonies at the Black Sea beaches of the
Crimea peninsula with non-professional performers.[36][37]
"Klaxon" (2017–2020) is a
virtual reality experience that addresses questions of
race and
gender. The script combined the play by J. William Howe that explored the gender identity and Shokhov's research on racial identity.[7] The story unfolded around a black woman on the way to acceptance of her identity. The lead role was played by several actresses of different ages and races. The film was produced with a
360-degree camera in different locations, including Indiana University Bloomington, and
New York City. Shokhov and Evtiugina aimed to facilitate cross-cultural dialogue and worked with a diverse team of Russian and American crew, artists and scholars. The cast followed Shokhov's guided improvisation method. The use of VR allows the audience to contemplate the memories and the reflections of the protagonist.[32][11][12][38]
Awards
2014: Third prize,
World Press Photo award, Staged Portrait: Stories category for his Utrich series[1]
2015: Silver Camera Award (Children Personal Space series)[39][10]
2019: Nova Art Award for the 360 degrees film Klaxon, in collaboration with Anna Evtiugina[40]
Shows
Solo shows
2012 Empty Hills. The Space of Joy, Galerie Iragui, Moscow[41]
2012 Sochi. City of the Future Olympic Games, White Nights Festival, Perm
2013 Black Sea Vacations (a Biennale “Fashion and Style in Photography event),
Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow[42]
^
abNoni Ford (June 2018). "The Klaxon. Local Russian Filmmakers Anna Evtiulina and Nikita Shokhov have made a virtual reality film". The Ryder Magazine. {{
cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (
help)
^Ольга, Данилкина (11 June 2012).
"Другие пустые холмы" (in Russian). Aroundart.ru. Archived from
the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
This article needs additional or more specific
categories. Please
help out by
adding categories to it so that it can be listed with similar articles.(April 2024)
Nikita Shokhov (
Russian: Никита Константинович Шохов; born 1988) is a visual artist and filmmaker in virtual environments.[1][2][3] He received third prize in the
World Press Photo award, Staged Portrait: Stories category in 2014.
Shokhov works with both still and moving images. Throughout art projects, he explores the duality of body and mind, myth and reality, human nature, religions, history, and culture.[10] He works in collaboration with his spouse Anna Evtiugina who takes roles of co-author, and producer, depending on a project.[11][12]
The series "Moscow Nightlife" (2010–2015) is a study on human behavior. Shokhov spent several years documenting a demographically diverse range of Muscovites from hipsters to low class at different settings and different moments of their night out. Through Shokhov's sober eyes the partymakers appear similar to
carnival revelers in
Mikhail Bakhtin's philosophy works.[16][17][18]
Shokhov's thesis project at the Rodchenko Art School, the series "Rublevka" (2012–2013) was a visual research of a prestigious residential area of that name to the west of Moscow.
Rublevka is where the residencies of
nouveau riche are located and also the place with the highest social stratification in Russia. In his photo report, Shokhov captured the new elite, the ordinary inhabitants, and the
guest workers to highlight the threatening gap between extremely rich and incredibly poor.[19][20][21][22]
The series "Black Sea" (2011–2012) created at several
Black Sea resorts such as
Sochi and
Anapa was dedicated to Russian beach culture. It resembles
Martin Parr's photobook The Last Resort (1986) that represented working-class vacationers in the UK, and photographs by Sergey Rogozhkin on Black Sea beaches in the 1980s[23][24]
In the series "Utrich", Shokhov combined documentary and
staged photography methods to approach
Biblical motives. It was produced at Utrish national park on the northern shore of the Black Sea that has been a popular spot among nudists since the 1980s. Vacationers from the nudist camps were invited as models.[15][25][26][18][27]
The series "Children Personal Space" (2014) was a research on living space of young people and the way they interact with it with surreal scenarios shot in routine environments.[28]
In the series "Sacred Procession" (2012–2014), Shokhov approached religious processions in provincial towns, photographed candidly, bringing an unedited report.
A number of Shokhov's projects were dedicated to the contemporary Russian character.[8][29] He sampled the way of life of Russian people and their ties to national culture in the small towns of
Bologoe (shot in 2014) and Pereslavl-Zalessky (shot in 2013), a Sep village in
Udmurtia. In 2014, Shokhov took part in a large "Where Does the Motherland Begin?" national photographic project aimed to depict a variety of Russian traditions and overlapping of soviet and modern Russian culture.[30]
In the series "Scan" (2013–2016) Shokhov remained within the documentary tradition but went beyond the boundaries of direct photography. In that formal experiment, he used a
slit-scan photography technique to capture 40 seconds of reality in one image using a view camera with a
Better Light scanning back. Therefore, the moving objects, such as cars and people, undergo the process of plastic deformation while still objects such as architecture and landscapes appear as expected. Photographs of the "Scan" series portray processions, such as
Mardi Gras in
New Orleans,
Saint Patrick's Day in
Boston,
New York, and
Washington,
Victory parade, and communist demonstration in
Moscow and Velikoretsky Sacred Procession in
Kirov Oblast. With the use of this artistic technique, Shokhov added a new visual metaphor to the mass gathering, where individuality becomes blurred and distorted.[18][31][32]
The series "Flaming Motors" was captured at the
Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ) in
Nizhny Novgorod. The title refers to the figurative name, given to new Soviet plants at the time of mass industrialization. The series depicts industrial life through the prism of human-robot interaction. It also romanticizes the industrial buildings initially built for a solely functional reason and the cities that surround them.[33]
Visual installations and virtual environments
"The Last March" (2017) was a video installation created in collaboration with
Russian-American artist Naum Medovoy. The exhibition in
Moscow Museum of Modern Art presented Medovoy's graphic works and a film produced in memory of Soviet soldiers that were classified as missing in action, and the prisoners of war who were declared "Traitors to the Motherland" and sent to labor camps and Gulag. Shokhov presented two works. His film combined fragments of Medovoy's film with recently recorded footage of present-day Moscow and New York to highlight the gap between values of the mid-century and the present time. The second installation provided a contemporary interpretation of Medovoy's diaries and sketchbooks with a focus on women identity, stereotyping, and the tensions of daily life for a woman.[34][35]
The project "Ice" (2015—2017) was an
experimental film and immersive video installation by Shokhov, Andrey Kachalian, and Albina Mochryakova. It combined the features of narrative film,
documentary film, and
performance art. It explored concepts of carnivalesque, freedom, and physicality. The project was filmed at many nudist colonies at the Black Sea beaches of the
Crimea peninsula with non-professional performers.[36][37]
"Klaxon" (2017–2020) is a
virtual reality experience that addresses questions of
race and
gender. The script combined the play by J. William Howe that explored the gender identity and Shokhov's research on racial identity.[7] The story unfolded around a black woman on the way to acceptance of her identity. The lead role was played by several actresses of different ages and races. The film was produced with a
360-degree camera in different locations, including Indiana University Bloomington, and
New York City. Shokhov and Evtiugina aimed to facilitate cross-cultural dialogue and worked with a diverse team of Russian and American crew, artists and scholars. The cast followed Shokhov's guided improvisation method. The use of VR allows the audience to contemplate the memories and the reflections of the protagonist.[32][11][12][38]
Awards
2014: Third prize,
World Press Photo award, Staged Portrait: Stories category for his Utrich series[1]
2015: Silver Camera Award (Children Personal Space series)[39][10]
2019: Nova Art Award for the 360 degrees film Klaxon, in collaboration with Anna Evtiugina[40]
Shows
Solo shows
2012 Empty Hills. The Space of Joy, Galerie Iragui, Moscow[41]
2012 Sochi. City of the Future Olympic Games, White Nights Festival, Perm
2013 Black Sea Vacations (a Biennale “Fashion and Style in Photography event),
Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow[42]
^
abNoni Ford (June 2018). "The Klaxon. Local Russian Filmmakers Anna Evtiulina and Nikita Shokhov have made a virtual reality film". The Ryder Magazine. {{
cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (
help)
^Ольга, Данилкина (11 June 2012).
"Другие пустые холмы" (in Russian). Aroundart.ru. Archived from
the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
This article needs additional or more specific
categories. Please
help out by
adding categories to it so that it can be listed with similar articles.(April 2024)