Face of War - Exhibition "M 17" Gallery / Лицо Войны - Выставка в галерее "M 17"

On 25 August, the M17 gallery hosted a public presentation of the mosaic exhibit, “Faces of War.” Although it was displayed in only one studio, images of the exhibit were broadcast by nearly every international media outlet and published in over 2,000 publications such as the Guardian, Herald, Times and the Wall Street Journal. Daria Marchenko, the author of “Faces of War,” exposes the brutality and hypocrisy of the Kremlin in order to show the international community the architect of the occupation of eastern parts of Ukraine. The date of the presentation marks the anniversary of the Russian open military invasion that culminated in the Ilovaisk tragedy.

Visitors had to enter the exhibition hall alone. While heading down a long corridor surrounded by barbed wire and dark-red lighting, visitors could experience the multi-faceted nature of war depicted in the ever-changing portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unique mosaic exhibit is composed of 5,000 shells brought from the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) area in Ukraine’s East. The portrait of Russia’s authoritarian leader changes colors and facial expressions depending on the angle of lighting. However, even the rich and emotional amplitude of the portrait does not distract the viewer from the terrible truth manifested in the deadly metal material from which the work was created...

© Dasha Marchenko, 2024