East 10 2020

Pavlo Makov made "East 10," with what looks like etching, and aquatint, on paper, and it's a small but intense world. The restricted monochrome palette gives it a kind of architectural, almost blueprint quality, like a lost technical drawing. There's an incredible range of textures, from the grainy washes of tone to the crisp, precise lines describing the buildings and structures. See how the etched lines define the forms, creating depth and volume while also flattening the image into a kind of diagram. I'm particularly drawn to those round buildings – are they prisons? Or some kind of fortification? The artist gives us enough information to pique our interest, but not enough to pin anything down. Makov, particularly in his series 'The Fountain of Exhaustion,' often uses architectural motifs, like a visual language to explore themes of urban decay, social structures, and the passage of time. Think of Piranesi's etchings of imaginary prisons – both share this fascination with intricate detail and ambiguous space, creating a world that is both familiar and deeply unsettling.