Workers, Gymnasts, and Cuba: Valery Katsuba's Human Architecture Returns to the Russian Museum

Paco Griñán

Málaga

Russian circus trapeze artists in blue tights about to jump next to a construction worker hanging from a bridge in London... in black and white. At first glance, acrobats and gymnasts have little to do with workers, but Belarusian photographer Valery Katsuba has captured the connection in 'Romantic Realism II', which extends the first installment of this series exhibited in Málaga from November to May, and which, in this second version, also adds a Greek perspective of the decadent island of Cuba. The exhibition also serves to maintain the original spirit of the Russian Museum, now blurred as it shares its space with Málaga Espacio Expositivo Tabacalera (MEET) and lacks a permanent collection since the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022 and the return of its treasures to the St. Petersburg Museum. The current exhibition presented this Wednesday has no closing date.

"In Málaga, I premiere this project that unites workers and gymnasts, photographs I had been taking in parallel and without any connection," said the artist Valery Katsuba himself, who confessed that it was the curator Sebastián Mascaró who found that link which is very visual in the aerial photos that relate trapezes with scaffolding, but also finds balance in "that body in effort and the dedication to daily work." Thus, the show, which displays a total of 38 works where realistic photography merges with performance, expands this labor link by showing works that connect sport and professions, like the portrait of 'The Swimmers' next to the three sisters in their blue overalls in a traditional hardware store in Madrid or the fishermen in the sun of Santa Pola.

Tattooed Atlantes and modern Venuses reinterpret Greek classicism in Valery Katsuba's Cuban photographs

The curator has also emphasized the series of images from Cuba, presented last year on the island and exhibited for the first time in Europe. "In his travels, Valery captures the emotional climate, absorbs the light, and captures the people he portrays," Mascaró stated about this original collection that uses iconic settings of the country, such as the Gran Teatro de La Habana or the iconic Malecón, to transform them into classical settings populated by Venuses, athletes, and mythological bodies that give a new mestizo vision of the academic tradition. A play of "human architectures" that also serves as the poster of the exhibition with the figures of two tattooed Atlantes in a garden, welcoming visitors at the entrance to the exhibition.

'Romantic Realism II' will not have a catalog or, rather, will have a very special one. As explained by Luis Lafuente, director of the Public Agency for the Management of the Pablo Picasso Birthplace and Other Museum and Cultural Facilities, the multidisciplinary artist Valery Katsuba has also written about twenty stories inspired by his own photographs, travels, and experiences, so after the summer, this publication will be presented at the Russian Museum, where each story will be accompanied by an image from the Belarusian creator.

For her part, the councilor for Culture, Mariana Pineda, noted that the previous exhibition by the photographer, 'Romantic Realism I', was visited by 25,000 people and that this second installment "renews our commitment to maintaining the potential of this artistic center with the search for Russian art funds on Western soil to continue maintaining this space." At this moment, Katsuba's exhibition is the main attraction of the Russian Museum, which maintains a small display of the Castañé collection, exhibited since 2023.

Pineda concluded by inviting the photographer, based in Madrid, to expand his collections with images of Málaga. "I encourage you to explore our city to see what it conveys and inspires in you," she urged the artist, who might well be thinking about a third installment of his "emotional cartography."

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• Málaga
• Russian Museum Collection Málaga