CLAIR Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of Peter Lovigin’s mesmerizing Planet Lovigin series at the Saint-Paul-de-Vence space.

There will be a special opening at 19h00 on May 8, 2012 in the presence of Petr Lovigin. A Planet Lovigin book published by Kehrer Verlag will also be presented atthe exhibition.

From the Kehrer Verlag catalogue : When aging bathing beauties doggedly go at each other with inflatable pool toys; when a dancing Cherkess in a red folk dress whirls through a field of sunflowers; when a butcher and his freshly slaughtered pig indulge in a peaceful moment of melancholy, we know we have arrived in the magical world of Russian photographer Petr Lovigin – colorful, dreamlike and with the strong pull of wanderlust. In “Planet Lovigin” the artist takes the reader along in a fairy-tale road trip through his Russian homeland and the Caucasus region. The pictures frequently sport the artist’s handwritten commentaries, or he furnishes them with ornaments. Lovigin travels the planet, casting his ironic gaze on things and people, overdrawing a cliché here and there, and yet always displaying evident affection for his subjects. The artist likes to call his work the »Soul Kitchen« of photography.

Lovigin (b. 1981) studied architecture before taking up photography. His internet blog lovigin.livejournal.com has thousands of young Russian followers. Since 2006 his photograph series have been shown in numerous exhibitions, most recently at the Museum of Photography Thessaloniki, the Photobiennale in Moscow, the Istanbul Modern Art Museum and at Passage de Retz in Paris. He is represented by Galerie °Clair in Munich.

Authors: Anna-Patricia Kahn, Petr Lovigin
Artists: Petr Lovigin

Hardcover, 24 x 22 cm, 112 pages, 53 color ills., English/French available, 2012
ISBN 978-3-86828-287-0. Euro 39,90