The Photographers' Gallery is presenting "Ukrainian Diary," the first major British retrospective dedicated to Boris Mikhaïlov, born in 1938 in Kharkiv. This groundbreaking exhibition showcases the work of one of Eastern Europe's most influential contemporary artists, who has been exploring social and political subjects through experimental photography for over fifty years.
Described as an outsider, a trickster, and something of a proto-punk figure, Mikhaïlov combines humor, mischief, and tragedy in his pioneering work that spans documentary photography, conceptual art, painting, and performance. Since the 1960s, he has created a powerful testimony of life in Ukraine and the upheavals that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union. His body of work presents an ambiguous and fragmented vision of a constantly changing world, from early underground works and images of daily life in Kharkiv to self-deprecating self-portraits that mock traditional Soviet masculine stereotypes.
Mikhaïlov's photographs challenge the one-sidedness of Soviet ideology, particularly during an era when photography was heavily controlled and censored in the Soviet Union. "Ukrainian Diary" brings together works from more than twenty of Mikhaïlov's most important series, including "Yesterday's Sandwich," "I am not I," "Salt Lake," "Red," "Sots Art," "Luriki," "Case History," and "Theatre of War."
As a self-taught and somewhat careless artist (in his own words), one of his most significant series, "Yesterday's Sandwich" (1960s-1970s), came about by accident when some slides stuck together. Fascinated by the result, he continued to randomly layer slides, creating new combinations that "reflected the dualism and contradictions of Soviet society." Mikhaïlov deliberately created "bad photography" to undermine official Soviet aesthetics, as demonstrated in his "Black Archive" series (1968-1979).
Poorly printed, damaged, or low-quality productions constituted an artistic process that Mikhaïlov described as "mediocre photography for a mediocre reality." The "Red" series (1965-1978) combines documentary photography with conceptual art. More than 70 images taken in the late 1960s and 1970s highlight the color red in everyday objects and scenes, revealing how deeply communist ideology permeated daily life.
Overall, his uncompromising and subversive work constitutes a powerful photographic narrative of Ukraine's contemporary history. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the MEP (Maison Européenne de la Photographie) in Paris and will run from October 10, 2025, to February 22, 2026, at The Photographers' Gallery, located at 16-18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW.
