Mikhail Margolis

After receiving his diploma in Moscow in 1991, Mikhail Margolis moved to the USA where he developed a strong interest in art, photography and computer sciences. Since moving to France in 2000 where he has continued to live, he studied animation and subsequently became involved in video art and interactive installations.

Mikhail Margolis retains from his studies of history at Soviet University a historical awareness and a taste for storytelling. Often inspired by Russian history, his work explores themes linked to contemporary society, depicts the deep relationship between humans and nature and questions form in the history of art.

In his work, he uses basic materials like paper, cardboard, tape, etc in an artisanal approach, combined with the most recent micro-technologies, from micro screens and computer to small electronic circuits. Both are so imbricated in the objet that they almost disappear, allowing the viewer to focus on the meaning of the artwork. The limits between the physical and the virtual elements of a piece are often blurred. In this way, Margolis establishes connections between the content of the artwork and the material used for its creation.

On a background woven like a linen canvas, colorful diving fins outline the background. Swim goggles arrive, leaving an undulating blue trail in their wake. Then an army of ping pong rackets plant themselves there like so many trees. And here a barbell weight that falls into the background, a rock. Water polo goals bounce around; the trajectory of their movement is in turn printed on the screen, tracing out towers. A red boxing glove enters, along with a pink mouth guard that weaves its way through the landscape. Tennis balls shimmer across the sky. And to finish, the protagonists leave one after the other before coming back again.

This playful construction-deconstruction of a scene populated by sports equipment symbolizes the ritual of competition. Like the seasons and their landscapes, the Olympic Games recur tirelessly every four years. Each one boasts of its exceptional character, its innovative construction, revolutionary transformations, and beneficial developments. The same events, the same medals, the same scandals.

In the same way, Mikhail Margolis endlessly generates "mini games", like a child would make sandcastles. Ephemeral compositions in bright colors like those of toys are, anecdotes replacing one another in constant enthusiasm. Replay reminds us that the Olympic Games are games, and should remain so.