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About Genna

Baltimore County

Genna Gurvich, a conceptual artist living in Baltimore, Maryland. He is a graduate of the Kiev Institute of Applied Arts and Design and holds a master's degree in System Design from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and Industrial Design (Russia).

The primary interest in his practice, Genna Gurvich considers the interconnections and interdependencies in the history of art and culture as a whole. Utilizing computer algorithms, he creates a new visual panorama of these relationships.… more

View Genna's Resume
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EGO

If every artist finds his measure of “Ego” in art, I’ll be the first to say that I don’t have enough of it. Thus, I decided to create an artificial ego whereby I harvest the ego of other artists known for theirs. What if, much like an X-Ray or MRI, one can replicate something intangible, undetectable, and in many cultures, still imagined? If, as Freud has written, the ego represents the building block of a modern artist’s creativity, what might the visual expression of it look like today?

My process to find out is as follows: Let’s assume that Paul Gauguin worked full throttle with a splash of adrenaline, adding a personal temperament to his choice of colors. A Google search provides a random order to his creative oeuvre. I then define the arithmetic average color of each of those paintings. I arrange these new colors back together according to Google’s original search pattern. Lastly, I apply an imagined centripetal force to each image, reworking the striking colors of Gauguin to rush to the center of my new artificial “Ego.”

The result of which I hope, parallels the ego’s desire to be seen, heard, and viewed in a dynamic, fantastical light. Did I erode his adrenaline? Neutralize his emotions? Is his genius still evident? Or is this just an alternative way of looking at something seen and unseen?
  • Chuck Close
    Chuck Close
    If every artist finds his measure of “Ego” in art, I’ll be the first to say that I don’t have enough of it. Thus, I decided to create an artificial ego. The ideal material for this concept is found in the ego of other artists. What if, much like an X-Ray or MRI, one can replicate something intangible, undetectable, and in many cultures, still imagined? If, as Freud has written, the ego as the building block of a modern artist’s creativity, what might the visual expression of that ego might look like today? In applying an imagined centripetal force to each image, I force the striking color averages of Chuck Close to rush to the center of my artificial “Ego.”
  • Van Gogh
    Van Gogh
    If every artist finds his measure of “Ego” in art, I’ll be the first to say that I don’t have enough of it. Thus, I decided to create an artificial ego. The ideal material for this concept is found in the ego of other artists. What if, much like an X-Ray or MRI, one can replicate something intangible, undetectable, and in many cultures, still imagined? If, as Freud has written, the ego as the building block of a modern artist’s creativity, what might the visual expression of that ego might look like today? In applying an imagined centripetal force to each image, I force the striking color averages of Van Gogh to rush to the center of my artificial “Ego.”
  • Paul Gauguin
    Paul Gauguin
    If every artist finds his measure of “Ego” in art, I’ll be the first to say that I don’t have enough of it. Thus, I decided to create an artificial ego. The ideal material for this concept is found in the ego of other artists. What if, much like an X-Ray or MRI, one can replicate something intangible, undetectable, and in many cultures, still imagined? If, as Freud has written, the ego as the building block of a modern artist’s creativity, what might the visual expression of that ego might look like today? In applying an imagined centripetal force to each image, I force the striking color averages of Gauguin to rush to the center of my artificial “Ego.”
  • Rothko.jpg
    Rothko.jpg
  • Gilbert and George.jpg
    Gilbert and George.jpg
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