Art Encounters 2017 Exhibitions:
That Obscure Object of Desire

Pusha Petrov (b. 1984) graduated from the Art and Design Faculty in Timișoara (2009 – painting department) and from the École Supérieure d’Art de Lorraine, Metz (2011 – communication department). Her artistic path has been enriched by various internships and residencies in France, and she is currently collaborating with multiple international artists. Through her installations and photographs, Pusha Petrov seeks to guide the viewer towards that hidden identity of personal objects, an identity which can be discerned when these singular elements which populate daily life and intimate space are perceived with hightened sensorial awareness.

Selected exhibitions: Soba [The Stove], Romanian Cultural Institute in Paris (2016, solo); Dedans, Château de Luttange, Lorraine (2015, solo); Ailleurs, 18ème Biennale Internationale de l’Image de Nancy (2014); Indiscrétions, Château de Courcelles, Montignylès-Metz (2013, solo); Croyance à la maison, Octave Cowbell Gallery, Metz (2012, solo); Le tout amplifie la somme des parties, Espace d’Art de Centre Jacques Brel, Thionville (2011, solo); Carte de visite and La fin, le début, Galerie de l’Esplande, Metz (2011 / 2009); Daily mirrors, Conseil Général de la Moselle, Metz (2010, solo); Une Cohabitation 2, Galerie Octave Cowbell Metz (2009).

Pusha Petrov observes people’s intimacy by focusing on everyday life details, accounting for specific attitudes that preserve each one’s singularity. Taking pictures of objects or inhabited spaces, she symbolically shows people’s ordinary context, offering a sociological and aesthetic reading of lifestyles.

In the Marsupium à main series, the ordinary women’s handbag is revealed as a mysterious object, engaging erotic signification that reflects on different aspects of the contemporary female dynamic lifestyle. Similar to a hidden portrait, the image communicates different suggestive details without fully disclosing the intimate content of these indispensable accessories.

Images:

1. Pusha Petrov, Portrait

2. Pusha Petrov, Marsupium à main, (pink), series of 21 photographies (2010), digital print mounted on 3 mm aluminium dibond, 48 x 72 cm, photo credits: Pusha Petrov