Marina Fedorovskaya, curator of the 2019 GUM-Red-Line Art Show // One Family, from 2015 to 2018 – co-creator of the Contemporary Art on the Cover of BoscoMagazine Project.
Today we are actively looking for new artists, the “young artist” concept is at the forefront. When we started our project in 2015, the art movements that were launched in the 1980-90s had already matured. Art experts began to transfer them to history books; in other words, they tried to to put a stop and pass on to museums a period that was still on the go, as it seemed. It was not just coincidence that by opening the world of successful contemporary art to the readers of Boscomagazine through our covers and coverstories, we were moving in parallel with significant retrospective exhibitions. In September 2015 the Ekaterina Cultural Fund hosted the Insight. Scenes from Russian Art Life 1986-1992 Exhibition organized by curator, art expert, and XL-Gallery founder Elena Selina. In November 2015 the Yeltsin Presidential Center opened in Yekaterinburg with a 1990s Exhibition, and in Spring 2018 the Art of the 2000s Exhibition took place at the New Tretyakov Gallery. The participants of the above-mentioned projects and the GUM-Red-Line Art Show are sometimes the same people. The critical difference of our project – we asked artists to show focus on the things that are important to them today, reflect on their perception of themselves and the world.
The participants of the GUM-Red-Line Project are active players of the Russian and international art scene. This spring Sergey Faibisovich and Pavel Pepperstein presented their brilliant exhibitions, respectively – at the Tretaykov Gallery and Garage. Irina Korina was a contributor to the Komar & Melamid Exhibition at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, there was an AES+F display at the Galeria Senda in Barcelona.
We selected our participants for four years. We have consciously chosen those artists who visualize their ideas concisely and recognizably, so that they would have full freedom in their interpretation of the family theme. We gave the artists a choice in media – performance, installation, video. Paper, though, is a favorite medium for all artists. Even the master of installations Irina Korina in summer of 2018 presented a beautiful series Winter Birds and Others. Though, her Isotopes Station Pavilion is not limited to graphics. As for Oleg Kulik, he made the Family Structure sculpture that is combined with the filigree grids of the GUM’s dome. Sergey Bratkov created another original cover: his idea is a dedication to the first family of Adam and Eve. The cover was printed in the form of an extra-large duvet cover, the series was named the Dream Empire and was originally displayed at the Multimedia Art Museum in 2017. At the exhibition, Bratkov’s idea almost turned into a quest. Monumentalists Dubossarsky and Vinogradov, while having already moved onto solo careers, made similar but different works. Dubossarsky came up with an ironic diptych about the eternal family values of Russia, while Vinogradov depicted a wordless dialog of history and contemporaneity in Italy. Interesting fact: Vinogradov and Dubossarsky premiere at the GUM Red-Line as two solo artists, and not as collaborators within a group art show. Konstantin Zvezdochetov presents new works on rare occasions. The cover with the hen, the chicklet by the Spasskaya Tower opened Year of 2017. Greetings from Moscow – one of his most recent artworks will be displayed at the First Line of GUM. The wonderful artist Andrey Bartenev is one of the main characters of our “collection” of artists. Bartenev is the leader of the Russian new wave that is closer to rave-culture and futurism than to post-modernism. His works are not too reflective and ironic; they are directed towards sheer happiness that is present outside domestic joys, into the future and space. Gosha Ostretsov started his career in contemporary art back in the 1980-1990s. The idea of family inspired him, he is also persuaded by the cosmic origins of this phenomenon. When we talk about family, we should remember the close-knit family of Totibadze. The themes of this world inspire Georgy Totibadze, he is exploring the nature of things through life itself. Semyon Faibisovich will present several artworks from his new Metamorphoses series. The cover Kira portraying the artist’s granddaughter is made in his new technique.
2018 became crucial for the project as it was Aidan Salakhova’s turn to present her cover. It is impossible to imagine the 1990s or the further development of contemporary art in Russia without Salakhova. Sculptures are displayed at her The Beginning Pavilion, since Aidan dedicates most of her time to sculpture at her Carrara studio. At the same time, Salakhova’s paintings that are also displayed here show her powerful potential as a painter. Summer of 2018 was marked by a collaboration with Bella Levikova, the participant of the 1988 Sotheby’s auction. Levikova, by definition, is a young artist, no matter that her artworks are showcased at the collections of the Russian Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery. This does not undermine her deep conversation with the world. Tatyana Pioniker is the youngest of the participants. Through her sketches, she attains surrealistic dynamics. The participation of a young talented artist is a sign that the GUM-Red-Line Project will have a bright place in the future of contemporary art.