Mikhail Ershov. From the Jubilees Series

This exhibition of famous St Petersburg sculptor and graphic artist Mikhail Yershov has been organised within the Jubilees 2005 series of exhibitions. There is one topic which seems to be of permanent importance for the artists, whose oeuvre is highly original. This is depicting a powerful and creative natural source in the form of a woman. This exhibition includes 20 sculptures and 20 graphic works. One can easily recognise Mikhail Yershov's sculptures: there is no evident motion in his monumental figures, they are ponderous, they have their own life and are intent. Next to the typical thematic Soviet works of the 1970s, Mikhail Yershov's sculptures looked like a sign of "dissidence". Although his figures show the obligatory pathos of creation, this was different - not social or timeless. In the 1980s and 1990s, Mikhail Yershov's works become more abstract. The artist studied the sources of plastic art, turned to the art of prehistoric epochs, to the times when the language of sculpture was formed; and he used this accumulated experience in his own manner. The early portraits made by the sculptor the influence of another culture - Roman plastic art - can be noticed. In the 1980s and 1990s, the sculptor started to use stone more often. The level of abstraction that he seeks, the inner fullness of form, have been organically embodied in this hard material. Overcoming the resistance of the stone, the artist creates a new form (new compared to nature). Yershov's recent works do not show any major changes, but have acquired certain new features. Characteristic depiction of life force and energy has given way to a new understanding of how fragile existence is and the importance of the moment.