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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov: Leningrad 80s >> ART>>
Reconstructing E-E KOZLOV's photo archive from the 1980s
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Synopsis In the 1980s, (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov extensively used the medium of black and white photography in his art, as documented by his large photo archive used for painted photo collages, books, figurative paintings, and more. In this article, I will show how some technical features of the Soviet FED-2 camera and the SVEMA and TASMA black and white negative films the artist employed helped me to reconstruct the original filmstrip sequences. At the same time, I set myself the task not to interfere with the arrangement of filmstrips Kozlov himself had established with his artistic practice. I did so some twenty years ago, starting in 2000 with Kozlov’s solo exhibition “E-E. Cult Heroes of the 1980s” at the St. Petersburg Archive and Library of Independent Art (PAiBNI)[1]. The exhibition presented Kozlov’s contact prints from that period, as well as photographs and works on paper.
Kozlov’s photo archive has since proved to be an indispensable tool for my analysis of both Kozlov’s own work more >> and Leningrad‘s vibrant art and music scene – the Kino band, the New Artists, Sergey Kuryokhin's Pop Mekhanika performances, the New Composers, Vladislav Mamyshev-Monroe, and others more >>. In this way, the discussion of the technical aspects of Kozlov’s photography completes another discussion – that of the artistic aspect of his photography, standing in the focus of my previous article from February 2021, “The Atlas of Ontology” more >>. It follows from the subject matter that my text is quite specific with respect to technical details. Yet for Kozlov, mastering the technical aspects of photography was not an aim in itself: to him, it was important to achieve image sharpness – the easier, the better. It was only in 1990, when he worked with New York art-dealer Paul Judelson who brought him a Nikon N8008, a high-standard automatic single-lens reflex, that taking picture became more comfortable. Around the same time, in 1991, Kozlov changed to colour photography, and, consequently, stopped developing his own films. Furthermore, he also acquired a video camera. In this way, the period of the Leningrad 1980s remains a well-defined period in Evgenij Kozlov’s photography, too, although photographic images still had an impact on his later work. [2]
[1] The PAiBNI (Петербургский архив и библиотека независимого искусства, 1999- 2007) was an institution initiated and operated by artist and art-historian Andrey Khlobystin at the Pushkinskaya 10 Art Center, Saint Petersburg. [2] Besides, this includes my own pictures, because after Kozlov and I met in 1990, we created a common photo archive, and in some cases it is now difficult to say which of us two took a specific picture. This approach is particular evident with Kozlov’s photo collage series E-E- Classic (НЛО-UFO) from 2014/2014, dedicated to Leningrad/ Petersburg artists. It features black and white as well as colour photography, and with regard to the latter, my pictures, especially those taken at Kozlov’s Berlin studio “The Russian Field no. 2”, play an important role more >>.
© Hannelore Fobo / text / pictures / lay-out © (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov / artwork Uploaded 3 May 2021 |
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