«Show me your panties» gallery, 2020

«Show me your panties» gallery is a collective project curated by Varya Kozhevnikova (hello, it's me) and Nikita Kozhevnikov (is he her relative? yes, he is). You can have a look at this project in @smyp_gallery in Instagram.

Curatorial text.

People locked at home, transfer all communication and life to the Internet. The number of those who are embarrassed to sing, dance, and broadcast live has decreased. There is a demand for photo shoots through webcams. Zoom doesn't close, but instead turns from a conference to a bar. A new digital intimacy is born.I noticed that video calls with all their sociability, contain elements of the innermost, something that is not for everyone’s eyes, but accidentally appeared in the frame: scattered clothes, untidy beds, a family member running past the camera etc. I wonder how the public turns into personal and vice versa.

So the idea that came up is to show panties — the subject of our daily and intimate life. What was in my head: I don't want beautiful pictures of pretty panties, I want the panties to come to life, to be in unusual places, situations and camera angles. I want them to turn from an intimate to a public subject. 

I'm not alone. My brother Nikita Kozhevnikov @bordure.visual is a gray cardinal, developed the design for the instagram gallery and helps me to manage and select its authors. We maintain one criteria: no narcissism, only panties are to be the focus. The gallery is now filled with examples by many authors, through in the story we post not only panties, but also another subject’s photos to help explain the project to other potential participants. If we're unsure of any work, we reply that we're uncertain and suggest changes. If suddenly the gallery grows to an unforeseen scale, it will be difficult to maintain communication with each artist. But for now, this is just our quarantine fun which began an independent life. Join us @smyp_gallery.