Andrei Molodkin Creates Portrait of Putin with Ukrainian Blood
Our old mate Andrei Molodkin has created a portrait of Vladimir Putin filled with Ukrainian blood as a protest against the invasion of Ukraine.
The sculpture was made in collaboration with his Ukrainian friends and co-workers at The Foundry in France. They donated their blood before returning to their home country to fight. Their wives and children have fled the war and are living with Andrei at The Foundry.
‘I created this work as an act of solidarity between the Russian and Ukrainian people,’ said Andrei. ‘It’s the dream of any criminal regime to silence discussion. It’s time for us to use art to send a clear message about war and who Putin really is.’
One of the Ukrainian blood donors, Oleksandr Turchynets, said that while he had to return to protect his homeland, he was eager to donate to the protest beforehand. ‘I gave my blood before I came to fight to show whose blood is being spilled at the hands of one man,’ he said.
An eight-meter-high projection of the portrait was installed at the altar of a church in central London on Wednesday 16 March but has since been removed.