DETAILS
Above: Photographs from Close Up and Private
Hello Sergei and Nello, thanks for chatting with Gym Class Magazine. Who are you guys? Where are you from? What do you do for a living? What are your back stories?
Sergei: I was born in Kharkov in 1952, second biggest town in Ukraine, in the academic architect family. After graduation from Kharkov Academy of Art and Architecture in 1975 I have worked as a practical architect, in 1983-1986 studied PhD “Means of Visual Information in Architecture” at Kiev School of Architecture, worked as an art director in the magazine “Morning”; were initiator and founder of Centre of Contemporary Art “SOVIART” in Kiev and its first art director and curator; moved to Denmark in 1990 and live and work here as a visual artist; in 2002 founded of Senko Studio – the non profit place where I present various pieces of art produced by emerging and promising artists.
Nello: I’m a Visual Designer and Art Director, I was born in Turin, Italy, in 1979. I graduate in Graphic Design (Bachelore Degree, 2004) at Faculty of Architecture in Turin and in Visual Arts at IUAV University of Venice (Master Degree, 2007), Art and Design Faculty. From 2004 to 2006 I was involved in the XX Olympic Winter Games Committee as web designer and in those years I also founded and directed Playzebra magazine, an independent experimental annual publication about contemporary art, printed in 5 issues untill 2007. I am used to work with the contemporary art world for events, books, magazines and catalogues design with a graphic design studio in Turin called Zebra, but I also continue my activity in web design working with an important Italian creative web agency called DGTmedia. Since a couple of months, I am based in New York and I work mainly as freelance.
You both curate an online project called Close Up and Private. Love it! What’s the project all about? Where did the idea come from?
Sergei: I do work with collage as one of my artistic form of expression and taking pictures of everyday dressing up, which depends of your mood, time of the year or limits of your budget is a very creating process. I thought, what a liberating and sincere way of showing it to those who want to see it and internet has this quality: showing of without showing much. I could not realize the idea before I got in touch with Nello Russo, very talented art director and designer, whom I knew from different art cultural events: “Teach Me” in Venice, “Colophon” in Luxemburg. Nello created the design of the web site exactly as I wished, when the images come as a row, just as you were sitting in the pavement café or passing by in the metro passage.
Nello: I knew Sergei from many years, we have a sort of artistic and professional feeling and when he came to me last March with the idea for this new project I though that Close Up and Private could be really impressive. The project comes out working on it, I have started with the logo design and then with the web site layout trying to have a pure and minimal layout, what Sergei expected.
What inspires you both?
Sergei: My kids, music, my wife, art, food, fashion, magazines, creative people I meet.
Nello: Good and clever ideas. But also: healthy foods, vintage video games, my girlfriend, my bunny, contemporary art, interaction design, artist’s books and magazines.
Who are the guys you photograph? Have you both always been into fashion?
Sergei: On the most of pictures there are my two sons, whom I very grateful for understanding and support. I take photographs as I do collages: combine parts of clothing by my artistic instinct and lows of composition and by cutting unnecessary of, sometimes even face. Sometimes I meet people, which style I like and photograph them. Have I always been into fashion? I guess so, more emotionally than professionally.
Nello: All the pictures are made by Sergei and portrait their sons and other people he meets. As a designer I worked for some fashion projects in past years (i.e., in Playzebra Magazine 5 I have worked with brilliant fashion designer Maria De Ambrogio for made and serie°numerica brand), but I’m not a professional of this field. I think that the power of Close Up and Private is that it is not only fashion, but also contemporary art through fashion.
Describe your own personal style?
Sergei: It is very easy – it is Close up and Private style.
Nello: Minimal-urban-chic (maybe).
What’s the future of the project? How do you see it developing? Do you see it ever becoming a printed zine or publication?
Sergei: It could be great to print Close Up and Private book – a pocket size. We will see if we can develop this idea. I also think the images would look good as a photo exhibition, at the gallery or the right exhibition space.
Nello: Yes, a printed version of the web site issues could be the future, we are thinking about it; a limited edition of t-shirts featuring artwork by Sergei will come soon.
Love the project. Thanks for your time.
More here: Close Up and Private