Alexej Meschtschanow

Der Morgen heller als der Tag

The current exhibition Der Morgen Heller Als Der Tag (Dawn brighter than Day) by Alexej Meschtschanow gathers an ensemble of new wall-pieces from his ‘glass-crash’ – series. Against the background of a mélange of social interests where the urge for optimization, construction of identity and compulsive self-realization as well as the quest for the last bit of security become the distinctive parameters, Meschtschanow sheds light upon the tense field of individual wishes, moments of happiness and their downsides.

… down from the wall their faces smile at you…. blissfully, surprised, in disbelief, sulky, in triumph, relieved… sometimes alone, sometimes as a couple… the setting stays abstract. It is actually negligible who is depicted in the pictures, but it is of importance what the spectator can recognize: young people that hold a piece of paper in their hands, their faces beaming of joy and surprise.

They exist, these moments of happiness that can be socially triggered; this bureaucratically certified instant that makes your dream come true. It needs to be something extraordinary that these protagonists were able to get hold of: maybe a record deal? The rental contract for an affordable apartment in the hip district? A contract with Warner Brothers? The unexpected scholarship for Oxford? The permanent employment contract? – Fate gives them a head start: they have received something that is denied to most others. Some longing has been met at least for the moment … we encounter here distillates, small worlds of individual projections and of hopes that are not yet disappointed.

Meschtschanow sheds light upon the tense field of individual wishes and moments of happiness – the downside of it being never far away – against the background of a mélange of social interests where the urge for optimization, construction of identity and compulsive self-realization as well as the quest for the last bit of security become the distinctive parameters. Happiness is hardly universal and never for long, but the capability for it always shines through the grey of day-to-day life …

Alexej Meschtschanow’s works are the result of observed social habits and the appropriation of embedded aesthetic and psychosocial conventions. Studying our immediate social environments with an analytic and at the same time compassionate eye, he assembles exemplary material – found objects, derelict furniture, archived photographs – condensing it to autonomous sculptures and wall-pieces whose aesthetics and psychological atmosphere always underlines their societal relation.