Sergey Bratkov

SERGEY BRATKOV (Ukraine, 1960).
Untitled.
They have information labels on the back.
Measurements: 37 x 28 cm (x2); 52.5 x 42.5 cm (frames, x2).
In these two images, the black background, the white clothing, the frontal poses, and the restrained expressions create a deliberately artificial image, almost as if we were looking at fashion photographs or a catalog. But Bratkov often uses precisely this seemingly neutral appearance to introduce a certain unease or ambiguity.This is important because his photography does not simply seek to “portray” a person. As the critical context of his work explains, Bratkov frequently works with staged photography, questioning the supposed objectivity of the photographic portrait. There is also something particularly interesting about this pair of images: they do not seem to have been conceived simply as two independent portraits, but rather as a kind of diptych in which the differences in posture, gaze, and attitude create a relationship between the two subjects.
Between 1970 and 1978, he studied at the Repin Art College in Kharkiv and, subsequently, between 1978 and 1983, at the Polytechnic Academy in the same city. From 1994 to 1997, he was a member of the Fast Reaction Group, alongside Boris Mikhailov, Vita Mikhailova, and Seregey Solonsky—a collective that is essential to understanding the development of contemporary artistic practices in post-Soviet Ukraine.
Throughout his career, he has represented Russia at some of the leading international contemporary art events, including the 50th and 52nd Venice Biennale, the 25thSão Paulo Biennial, Manifesta 5 in San Sebastián, and the first two editions of the Moscow Biennial.His work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at internationally renowned museums and institutions, notably the Kunstverein Rosenheim (Germany, 2002), the Center for Contemporary Art in Kyiv (Ukraine, 2003), the S.M.A.K. Museum in Ghent (Belgium, 2005), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (Russia, 2006), the Baltic Center for Contemporary Art in Gateshead (United Kingdom, 2007), the Fotomuseum Winterthur (Switzerland, 2008), and the Pinchuk Art Center in Kyiv (Ukraine, 2010). At the same time, he has participated in prominent group exhibitions at museums, institutions, and art centers in numerous countries.His work is included in major international public collections, including those of the MuKKA Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, the Museum of Photography in Boston, the Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick (New Jersey), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Milwaukee, the S.M.A.K. Museum of Contemporary Art in Ghent, the MARTa Herford Museum of Contemporary Art in Herford, the Galician Center for Contemporary Art in Santiago de Compostela, the Pinchuk Art Center in Kyiv, and the Ekaterina Foundation in Moscow.