Aleksey Kondratyev
Ice Fishers
May 4–28, 2017
Ice Fishers is a visual study of makeshift shelters used by Kazakh fishers as they fish along the frozen Ishim River. North-Central Kazakhstan is one of the coldest populated regions on Earth, yet many fishermen use nothing more than trash bags and salvaged plastic to protect themselves from subzero temperatures and biting winds. Despite this harsh environment, Kondratyev’s photographs reveal the beauty of these improvised structures, drawing attention to the material and shape of each functional sculpture as it floats within an endless expanse of white.
Aleksey Kondratyev (b.1993 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) works between Detroit, Michigan and Central Asia. In 2015 he completed a fellowship at Fabrica, a communication research center based in Treviso, Italy, allowing him to travel throughout Central Asia to complete his Formations series. He is also the director and co-founder of Stand Quarterly, an international contemporary art journal. This is his first solo exhibition of Ice Fishers.