Anton Konukhov

*Mirrors must be made of the premium, first and second sort of the glass marked M1, M2, M3 to comply with all-Union State Standard 111. (all-Union State Standard 17716-91 Mirrors. General technical specifications. Paragraph 2.2.1.)



Mirrors. There are many myths and legends about them. In some, they took lives away, in others, they became guides to a different world. And no matter what, the man always tried to create a perfect, pure reflection, experimenting with different materials, attributing different extents of reflectivity to mirrors.

Today we are literally surrounded by reflections. Shop windows, glass walls of business centers, wind screens of cars driving by… Reflections became a part of our reality long ago, and they guide us. We are accustomed to calling the reflecting surface a mirror, and to perceive the reflections in them as reality. But is everything that simple? Can we be sure of accuracy and purity of reflection, despite all distortions in mirrors? Can we be assessors of the physical properties of the reflecting surface? And are we able to see the reality behind these reflections, if what we see is just an indirect visual projection in the subcortex of the brain? We try to fully describe and reflect reality, as 'purely' and 'accurately' as possible. There is a special labeling code for the quality of the mirror surface, from M1 (the best brand of glass) to M3. Nevertheless, it is extremely difficult to achieve a perfect reflection and 'correct' transmission of reality.

Anton Konyukhov's works remind us of conditionality, of our agreement on the notions of purity of perception. It's natural for us to describe and see everything in an extremely 'distorted' way. The special 'alloy' that covers the canvases, interacting with the space, seems to regenerate the interrelations within this space. Finding himself in front of Konyukhov's work, the person becomes not so much a part of the work itself, but rather a part of the relationship between the work and space around. Changes in the illumination, viewpoint and perspective not only change the reflection and representation of the interior inside the work, but also change the vision of the work and its representation of itself. In this way, the artist in his works invents a new extent of reflection under the conventional name of M4. The mirror surface, doubling the environment where it is located, creates a diptych. The difference in textures and the quality of the reflective flow translates the idea of multiple interpretations of reality.