Images by Jacob Koestler
Rachel Yurkovich, Courtesy of the artist.
Rachel Yurkovich “Moss growing on a shoe in Leliv village, Chernobyl Exclusion Zone”, 2017, video still. Courtesy of artist. (Click image for trailer.)
Rachel Yurkovich “Dead bird in a Chernobyl-2 apartment building, Chernobyl Exclusion Zone”, 2017, video still. Courtesy of artist. (Click image for trailer.)
Rachel Yurkovich “Spider in a fish farm, Chernobyl Exclusion Zone”, 2017, video still. Courtesy of artist. (Click image for trailer.)
A Window to Sculpture Emerging Artist Series 2018 Exhibition
Rachel Yurkovich: Black Grass
Main Gallery
Friday, January 19- Friday, February 23, 2018
Dual opening reception Friday, Jan. 19 5:30 – 8:00 P.M with Zac Weinberg: The Lampshade Variations
The Artist Talks: Zac Weinberg, 6:15 p.m. in the Euclid Avenue Gallery
The Artist Talks: Rachel Yurkovich with Sarah Kabot, 7 p.m. in the Main Gallery
“People ask me: ‘Why don’t you take photos in color? In color!’ But Chernobyl: literally means black event. There are no other colors there” – Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich
The disastrous events that occurred as a result of the explosion of the Chernobyl power plant on April 26, 1986 forced almost a half a million people to abandon everything and never return. Though undoubtedly devastating, the Chernobyl disaster was not all destruction. Within the borders of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, something beautiful and unexpected has taken over the poisonous cityscape: life. In her video project Black Grass, Rachel Yurkovich documents the thriving environment that has taken over post-humanity. Her work focuses on the new life and beauty that has blossomed, unchecked, all over the Exclusion Zone. Flora and fauna have supplanted humanity; making a home where they may not be welcome to elsewhere. The vestiges of man rot and decay away while Nature reclaims her land. Chernobyl and the nearby city of Pripyat present some challenging themes that Yurkovich in turn poses to the viewer: the profound consequences (good and bad) of human error; the inevitability of life continuing without us; and the unrelenting question of who has dominion over the world. Yurkovich’s video project is accompanied by illustrations of some of the organisms she came across during her trip.
Rachel Yurkovich earned her BFA in sculpture and painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art (2014) and currently has her studio practice in Cleveland. Through video, she frames instances of uninhibited consumption and the damaging consequences they often bring — involving the use of insects and animals as stand-ins for human situations of desire, indulgence and self-destruction.
Visit Rachel’s website here.
