Exit 3 2021

Curator: Here we have Pavlo Makov’s “Exit 3,” a mixed-media drawing and print from 2021. What are your first thoughts on this unusual cityscape? Editor: Bleak. Despite the colorful conduit slashing through it, a palpable sense of confinement pervades. It feels like a diagram of controlled movement, or perhaps a… labyrinth? Curator: Makov often explores themes of urban space and post-Soviet experience, and this piece very much resonates with such anxieties. The arrangement reminds me of city planning maps of Soviet microdistricts – these modular, often identical, housing blocks intended to embody collectivism. Editor: Yes! The repetitive, almost prison-cell-like grids containing the small buildings contribute to that feeling. But look closer; they're not identical. Each one has subtle differences, a little skewed here or there, resisting absolute uniformity. It's as if the human spirit refuses to be entirely standardized. Curator: That's insightful. There's an interesting tension there between imposed structure and individual expression. Consider too the “Exit 3” title looming over it all. Exit from what? This organized space? A collective consciousness? Makov leaves the question open. Editor: The red-to-blue channel dominating the right side… It certainly commands attention. Symbolically, what might it represent? Transformation, perhaps? Alchemical transition? Red for one state changing into blue for another. Curator: Perhaps an escape route, or the very possibility of change within a rigid system? The tension of control versus freedom pervades so many works of art made during times of cultural constraint. It's significant to consider how art creates a voice. Editor: I like how the stark geometric lines interact with the organic detail of the architectural sketches. It’s like an engineered system struggling to contain a more chaotic, natural human element. Curator: Absolutely. It's a powerful reflection on the complexities of identity and freedom within urban environments and reminds us that we always have agency, or that maybe it is the role of an artist to help discover it. Editor: A labyrinthine puzzle, indeed. Makov delivers a complex, multifaceted symbolic statement that prompts many readings and remains fascinating even with ambiguity.