Nights You Spent without Me
Maria Gvardeitseva
100x140cm
Stainless steel and black mild steel with zinc plated steel hooks, condoms, International Misogyny blue paint, spirit
London, UK
2024
Using the homage to “Anthropometries” - performances by the French artist Yves Klein, where naked girls, called the “living brushes” by the artist, were dipped in blue paint and left imprints of their bodies on canvases – Maria Gvardeitseva proposes to reconsider the practice from the point of gender equality, and, therefore, chooses a masculine-centric object for her sculpture – a condom. Maria explores themes of loss, feminism, identity, and in this sculpture she, like Klein, also uses a special blue colour that she created, only she calls it International Misogynistic Blue. The artwork is based on the in-depth interviews with women about their stories on separation and divorce. Each condom in the artwork reflects a personal story of betrayal and cheating, and has its name.
This work is a part of the 5-Minutes Bedtime Stories project by the artist.
