Collection
THE LIMOUSINE
‘Limousine’ is part of ‘Refrain’, Irina Korina’s large project. It is an exhibiting space, where objects invoke a sense of ‘pathetic nonsense’. ‘Refrain’ exposes and captures mass culture constants, which are archetypes of the collective subconscious in large-scale dynamic objects. A limousine, along with other objects of luxury, are placed on top of a long birch tree pole. These are all dreams from the 1990s that we carried before ourselves like banners – limousines, the Courchevel ski resort, yachts, towers – all of these on top of birch trees.
Painter: IRINA KORINA
HEADS
Created in the 1990s, the piece “Heads” is characteristic of Neizvestny’s later work. Here one of the artist’s favourite subjects is presented in various ways: heads that are multiplied and layered on top of each other can also be seen in his most known pieces such as “The Tree of Life” and “The Mask of Sorrow”. Outlined with a thick black line, which gives the painting a stained-glass effect, they are reminiscent of Polyclet and Indian ritual masks; fragmented faces of varying sizes almost fill the entire canvas.
Painter: ERNST NEIZVESTNIY
HAIRCUT FOR A FRIEND
The artist’s painting, ironically entitled “Haircut for a friend”, was created in 2008, and is one of his most ambitious large-scale early works. The composition puzzles the audience with its phantasmagoric plot: two young men dressed in loose streetwear are clipping a blue griffon. It is impossible not to notice the graffiti-style inscription «ТРУДЪ» (“LABOUR”) shaved into the side of the fairytale animal by the skillful hands of the freestyle-hairdressers. Koshelev strives to demonstrate the significance of the everyday life, similar to the artists of the “Severe style” in the 1950-1960s. However, in front of us is the everyday reality of the dawn of the third Millennium, as transformed by the screenwriters and directors of incredible blockbusters.
Painter: EGOR KOSHELEV
WINTER FROM THE SERIES ‘SEASONS OF THE YEAR’
Dubosarskiy and Vinogradov demonstrate the age-old confrontation of Russia and USA in a twisted and playful manner using a Russian bear and an American doll. On one hand, such a scene represents activities enjoyed by adults while showing aspects of life that are usually hidden from children. On the other hand, children’s toys can touch upon the territory of ideological conflict and geopolitical problems, matters that one usually takes very seriously. In the end, everything turns out to be just a game.
Painter: DUBOSSARSKY AND VINOGRADOV
BIT-COIN SILK
The installation is tracking the real time changes in the market activities related to cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Litecoin – independent and uncontrolled by any state peer-to-peer payment systems. Constantly changing currency rate of of Bitcoin against major world currencies is influencing the strain of strings in installation and the way the picks are hitting them. The robotic system of the artwork is directed by a computer algorithm: influenced by dynamic changes of data, the installation sounds like a complex sound instrument. Technically, the installation consists of two poles of 2 meters height. Each stand sprouts 5 diagonal strings which correspond to 5 currencies (US dollar, Yuan, Euro, Canadian dollar and Russian ruble). These strings are pulled on special automatic tuners moved by stepper motors directed by computer algorithm. Each motor features high precision of movement, which allows very precise tuning of string even with quite insignificant changes of parameters.
Painter: DMITRIY MOROZOV
CORE # 4
The work CORE № 4 is part of the series combining three sculptures named «paleomorphological cores». In the heart of the series is the intention to dissect the human and cultural evolutions and present the result as a mined formation sourced from the earth. This dissected fossil illustrates the chronological development of the modern society, turning from amorphous yet structural layers of industrial humus and alternating hollows that are gradually absorbing the human figurines. The visual realisation of the origins and nature of civilisation in Kawarga's art stems from metaphysical philosophy, at the same time it takes on defined shapes provoked by chemical reactions.
Painter: DMITRIY KAVARGA
