The initiative to install the Fountain in Kharkiv came from the Kharkiv Literary Museum. “It's a complicated structure, it will need to be maintained, cleaned periodically," says the artist. "There is a threat that the funnels could be painted over - it's bronze, it's a colour. To prevent vandalism, it could be hung on the firewall, and then it would work like a fountain in the rain."
Makov also expressed doubt whether the Kharkiv administration would accept the idea: "I have my doubts that our authorities will swallow the name ‘Fountain of Exhaustion’, because they all talk about 'Kharkiv is reinforced concrete'. "But I think it's a wrong concept, because people in Kharkiv are flesh and blood, they are dying."
If the administration grants permission for the installation, Makov is ready to donate the work to the city for free: "I don't mind putting up my 'Fountain', and not because I want to be somehow distinguished - no, my ego is already quite satisfied with awards and exhibitions. I want to do this for Kharkiv, and I don't need any fees - just money for production. I'm ready to make new funnels - probably bigger ones - I'll make everything new for free, you just hang it up."
About Fountain of Exhaustion:
- Pavlo Makov's installation Fountain of Exhaustion represented Ukraine at the 59th Venice Biennale. This work received about 3.5 thousand reviews from the world media.
- The artist has been developing the idea behind the installation since the 1990s. During this time, from a local commentary on an event in the history of Kharkiv, it has become a global metaphor for the depletion of the material world, the psychological state, and the relationship between humans and nature.
- Versions of the Fountain can now be seen in the museum quarter of Vienna and in Kharkiv's Yermilov Centre.
About Pavlo Makov:
- Pavlo Makov is one of the most famous contemporary artists in Ukraine, working mainly in the etching technique.
- Academician of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine.
- Winner of the Shevchenko Prize in 2018 (project Paradiso Perduto, consisting of 11 landscapes of a summer cottage near Kharkiv).
- He is a member of the Royal Society of Painters and Graphic Artists of Great Britain.
- Makov's works are included in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the National Gallery (Washington), the Library of Congress (Washington), the Centre for Contemporary Art (Osaka), the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Madrid), the National Art Museum of Ukraine (Kyiv), and others.
- He lives and works in Kharkiv.
