Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows. "Proverbs" series.

<...> Grigory Mayofis has created a number of significant series of works that tell about common situations and experiences for humanity. "Proverbs" is an ongoing series in which the artist focused on the truths that many children around the world must have heard from their parents or grandparents: "If there is nothing to say, say nothing," "Politics generates strange bedmates," and "One head is good — two better." Using trained circus animals in many of his works — from a giant brown bear to monkeys, dogs, lions and, more recently, elephants — in scenes where artifacts or other cultural information are missing, Grigory Maiofis offers visually sharp images that address the essence of the issue. And while some photographs have layered cultural or national references (the double-headed eagle in his work with two heads is a symbol of many great empires, including Russia), proverbs have a broader relationship to the eternal philosophical questions facing humanity. His last work, "Flies do not fly into a closed mouth," was an image that had been presented to Mayofis for a long time, but only years later he finally met a lion tamer who, in his performances, really puts his head in the lion's mouth. The artist, who undoubtedly has the gift of persuasion, was allowed to take pictures during rehearsals at the circus. The works of Gregory Maiofis are a derivative of an inquisitive intellect that studies literature, poetry, philosophy and art all over the world, his mischievous sense of humor and irony; and his tireless desire to visually display the complexities and mysteries of human existence <...>.

Text: Karen Sinsheimer,

Curator of Photography, Santa Barbara Museum of Art.