(“The force acting on a unit of length of the surface contour and tending to contract the surface to a minimum for the given volumes of the phases.” Great Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 20, Macmillan: New York, 1983)

Following his magnificent installation of the Russian Pavilion at the last Venice Biennale, Cueto Project has the pleasure to announce the first solo show of Alexander Ponomarev in the the United States.

SURFACE TENSION

Everything that happens “lies” on the surface.

The dramaturgy of the clash of energies unfolds on this boundary of phase separation.

The surface reflects infinite conflicts, fractures reality, and confuses reality and reflection.

Above the surface winds travel, ruffling and caressing it, never penetrating “beneath” but in their desire to penetrate, equating everything on their path with it.

Everything on the surface exists under the bell jar of time, which sometimes takes the form of a heavenly cupola, beneath which sleep sand cities that contain the danger of being scattered, washed away, or being lost under the phase boundaries.

The danger is attached to the surface from below, it is invisible, swift, and treacherous.

Hidden in crystal columns, which like atlantes support the splayed world of illusions, danger punctures their heels with sharp needles, having made a thorough study of the supporting architecture.

The horizon is the horizontal component of life for the optical contraction of human eyes, and man peers into that surface tension like Narcissus, trying to find in his reflection only Beauty.