Marat Guelman and the group ±Komma
Ethan Cohen Gallery | 251 West 19th Street, New York, NY
Opening Reception: April 23, 2026, 6 – 8 pm
AI art as the aesthetics of the end of the world and a new perspective on identity
NEW YORK, NY – Ethan Cohen Gallery is pleased to announce First of all, it’s beautiful, a new project by artist, curator, cultural strategist, Marat Gelman, developed in collaboration with the international art group ±Komma (Ruslan Solopeev, Boban Marković Jr., and Jean Jules). The exhibition considers AI not simply as a tool but as a co-author, a partner in articulating the aesthetics of an anxious age and offering a renewed perspective on identity.The project was inspired by the observation that the theme of nuclear threat is used as a tool of political pressure. First of all, it’s beautiful reframes collective dread, specifically the nuclear threat, without resorting to direct political rhetoric. Instead, Gelman proposes a lucid acceptance of finitude, much as one accepts personal mortality. From this stance, clarity and freedom emerge. First of all, it's beautiful is not about destruction, but rather a new form of inner stability. It explores how culture can transform fear into conscious experience and threat into the language of art.
