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ABC. Panel for the 30th anniversary of the cycle "Russian Erotic ABC".
Nikolay Sednin • Contemporary art, September 2023, 140×300 cm
Description of the artwork «ABC. Panel for the 30th anniversary of the cycle "Russian Erotic ABC".»
The cycle "ABC for Two" or "Russian Erotic ABC". 1993-1995.
"People's lives remain in letters". In 1993, working as the chief artist of one of the central newspapers of Kiev, Nikolay Sednin receives an order to develop a fundamentally new font design for this newspaper. Studying the history and symbolism of the ancient Slavs, the artist creates images of the Russian alphabet on the basis of one of the oldest variants of the name sign of the ancient Russian princes Rurikovich. Turning the ancient symbol under different angles, or mirroring its separate parts, the artist created capital letters of the alphabet and a decorative frieze to decorate each letter. The project presented by the editor-in-chief of the newspaper causes a scandal at a meeting of the city council of deputies, the artist is accused of pro-Russian sentiments and dismissed from his position.
Nikolay Sednin returns to the project several years later, during the period of studying sacred symbols, emblematics, petroglyphs and art of ancient peoples of Europe, India and the East. Each letter of the alphabet is designed as a separate composition with erotic symbols of male and female. In 1996, the publishing house "Versiya" published a collector's edition of the book "Alphabet for Two", which also includes sketches for the cycle. In 2010, based on the cycle "Russian Erotic ABC", a video art of the same name was made. Since 2018, the cycle "ABC for Two" is in the permanent exhibition of the Nikolai Sednin House-Museum.
"People's lives remain in letters". In 1993, working as the chief artist of one of the central newspapers of Kiev, Nikolay Sednin receives an order to develop a fundamentally new font design for this newspaper. Studying the history and symbolism of the ancient Slavs, the artist creates images of the Russian alphabet on the basis of one of the oldest variants of the name sign of the ancient Russian princes Rurikovich. Turning the ancient symbol under different angles, or mirroring its separate parts, the artist created capital letters of the alphabet and a decorative frieze to decorate each letter. The project presented by the editor-in-chief of the newspaper causes a scandal at a meeting of the city council of deputies, the artist is accused of pro-Russian sentiments and dismissed from his position.
Nikolay Sednin returns to the project several years later, during the period of studying sacred symbols, emblematics, petroglyphs and art of ancient peoples of Europe, India and the East. Each letter of the alphabet is designed as a separate composition with erotic symbols of male and female. In 1996, the publishing house "Versiya" published a collector's edition of the book "Alphabet for Two", which also includes sketches for the cycle. In 2010, based on the cycle "Russian Erotic ABC", a video art of the same name was made. Since 2018, the cycle "ABC for Two" is in the permanent exhibition of the Nikolai Sednin House-Museum.
