Not on display

Anabiosis: Fishermen Plants

Photograph
2000 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Chernysheva, Olga (photographer)
Place of origin
Moscow (photographed)

On the snow-covered ice, a solitary Russian fisherman sits wrapped in fabrics and plastic to protect himself against the freezing cold. He must be deciphered before his form begins to appear from the layers enshrouding him. The image comes from a series entitled Anabiosis, meaning a return to life after apparent death. Chernysheva’s photograph revives the fisherman, if only through our vague perception of his shape.

Object details

Category
Photographs
Object type
Photograph
TitleAnabiosis: Fishermen Plants (series title)
Materials and techniques
Gelatin-silver print
Brief description
Photograph, from 'Anabiosis: Fishermen Plants' series, by Olga Chernysheva, 2000
Physical description
Black and white photograph of a fisherman wrapped in hessian and plastic sitting on a frozen river in Moscow.
Dimensions
  • Height: 78.8cm
  • Width: 53.9cm
Marks and inscriptions
(Signed and dated by artist on verso.)
Gallery label
(22/10/2016)
These images depict a solitary Moscow fisherman swathed in plastic against the freezing cold [left] and a plant near Red Square wrapped up in hessian sacking to protect it from the frost (right). Anabiosis is a state of suspended animation into which some animals go during extreme conditions, reviving later. This may be read as a metaphor for looking forward to a thaw in artistic freedom.
(2008-2009)
On the snow-covered ice, a solitary Russian fisherman sits wrapped in fabrics and plastic to protect himself against the freezing cold. Similarly, a tree, uncannily human in outline, is covered to preserve it through the ravages of winter. Both must be deciphered before the forms begins to appear from the layers enshrouding them. These images come from a series entitled Anabiosis, meaning a return to life after apparent death. Chernysheva's photographs revive the fisherman and the plant, if only through our vague perception of their shape.
Credit line
Purchased through the Cecil Beaton Royalties Fund
Summary
On the snow-covered ice, a solitary Russian fisherman sits wrapped in fabrics and plastic to protect himself against the freezing cold. He must be deciphered before his form begins to appear from the layers enshrouding him. The image comes from a series entitled Anabiosis, meaning a return to life after apparent death. Chernysheva’s photograph revives the fisherman, if only through our vague perception of his shape.
Associated object
E.3556-2004
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.3555-2004

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Record createdJuly 19, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O101681/anabiosis-fishermen-plants-photograph-chernysheva-olga/
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