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Erlich Dmytro
The romantic tradition of “contemplating ruins” is a metaphor for reflection, representing the very process of cultural formation. This fascination with post-industrial grandeur generates fantasies that do not aim to build one’s own culture but rather to distance oneself from the post-socialist or post-industrial “Other.” The term “ruin porn,” coined by writer and photographer James D. Griffioen, initially described tourists’ tendency to photograph Detroit. They focused excessively on the city’s ruins, ignoring the issues faced by its residents, including Griffioen himself. Originally used to describe Detroit, this term is now applied to vast archives of (post-)apocalyptic decay, widely represented in stock photography worldwide.
An exceptional interest in “ruin porn” can be observed in Eastern Europe, notably through the popularity of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and Ukraine in general. This interaction presupposes hierarchical relationships, where the photographer’s exploitative gaze satisfies the voyeuristic desires of viewers removed from the context of depicted places. Jamie Rann, in a 2014 article published in The Calvert Journal, highlighted the ethical issues of the post-socialist fetish: “Such works are rightly criticized for trivializing, aestheticizing, and dehumanizing the city, portraying architectural form as bare and stripped of humanity, just as pornography objectifies the body.”
This aesthetic can also be seen in Ehrlich’s project. However, unlike photographers who capture the apocalyptic world for the satisfaction of others, Dmytro uses architectural elements and photographic techniques to create art pieces, stripping places of human presence for his own artistic fulfillment. His subdued and trusting tone, his ability to find drama in seemingly simple life circumstances, and his calm, even somewhat detached narrative voice convey the artist’s internal dissatisfaction with the fate that society has predetermined.
Artist, curator. Born in 1989 in Odesa.
Education:
Graduated in 2013 from the International Humanitarian University with a bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Design.
Graduated in 2011 from the Odesa Art College named after Grekov M.B., Faculty of Artistic Design (HО).
Since 2013, has been engaged in art in media such as painting, graphics, installation, and sculpture.
Exhibitions
2024 “Ruin porn: terminus,” Odesa Museum of Modern Art, Odesa
2023 “Organic remains of the former world,” Odesa National Art Museum, Odesa
2020 “BORED&HORNY,” Odesa Museum of Modern Art, Odesa
2017 “Renaissance / version 1.0,” “Dukat” gallery, Kyiv
2015 “Top 10 young Ukrainian artists,” gallery “Khudprom,” Odesa
2015 “Pasamontana,” “Koba Bar,” Berlin
2015 “Awkward Positions,” Artery Gallery, Odesa
Group projects:
2024 “Ray or Night,” MSMO, Odesa
2023 “Сonсentration of the will,” art center “M17,” Kyiv
2019 “(SELF) IDENTIFICATION,” gallery “invogue,” Odesa
2018 Trumpomania, Salomon Arts Gallery, New York
2017 finalist of the III All-Ukrainian Competition in the field of modern visual art named after Natan Altman, Vinnytsia
2016 “III Ukrainian cut: Transformation,” Wroclaw
2016 “Imitation of catharsis,” Khudprom gallery, Odesa
2015 “Enfant Terrible. Odessa Conceptualism,” National Art Museum, Kyiv
2015 IV Odessa Biennale of Contemporary Art “Manifesto,” Museum of Western and Eastern Art, Odesa
2015 “Seaside Hedonism,” “8 Bit” gallery, Kyiv
2014 “Understanding Freedom,” Odesa Art Museum, Odesa
2014 “Museum of non-existent objects,” Orbita DK gallery, Odesa
2014 “Forbes: a new Ukrainian dream,” museum complex “Mystetskyi Arsenal,” Kyiv
2014 “220 volts of love,” Odessa Museum of Modern Art, Odesa
2013 “Art Kyiv Contemporary VII,” museum complex “Mystetskyi Arsenal,” Kyiv
2013 “E.O.S” Group: “Out of Control,” “Yellow Giants” gallery, Odesa
Curator project:
2016 “The First Odessa International Contemporary Art FREIERFEST,” Odesa
2016 Co-curator of the “Freiera” project, Gallery “Lavra,” Kyiv
2013 Co-curator of the “Museum of Nonexistent Objects” project (parallel program of III Odessa Biennale of Contemporary Art), DC “Orbita,” Odesa
