2011 | Happening
Event: Night of Museums
Venue: Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts, Hall of 18th–19th Century Painting, Yekaterinburg, Russia
Date: 14 May 2011
Group: Kazimir Malevich’s Malers’ Brigade
The Happening
For the Night of Museums, the Kazimir Malevich’s Malers’ Brigade opened a temporary portrait studio inside the museum’s historic painting hall.
Visitors were invited to have an instant, ephemeral portrait made in the style of the eighteenth century.
The Brigade used black polyethylene to cut simple details: beauty marks, moustaches and collars. These were placed on the visitors, transforming their appearance for a moment.
There was no painting and no permanent portrait.
Instead, the newly transformed sitter was given a hand mirror and invited to see the portrait immediately.
The Portrait
The portrait existed only for a moment: in the person, in the theatrical transformation and in the mirror.
A familiar museum setting became the backdrop for a temporary shift of identity and appearance.
The work was less about producing an image than about creating the conditions for a person to see themselves differently, even if only for a few seconds.