SAATCHI ONLINE MAGAZINE


DAILY NEWS, VIEWS, REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS
CRITICS' PICKS, OPENINGS, YOUR VIDEOS, YOUR BLOGS

Reports from Russia

NEWSPEAK: BRITISH ART NOW AT THE HERMITAGE, ST PETERSBURG

The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg and the Saatchi Gallery, London are jointly presenting
'Newspeak: British Art Now', featuring some of the most exciting artists to have emerged in the UK in the last few years who are largely unknown in the wider art world. The first section of this exhibition is at The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg until 17 January 2010, while an expanded version in two parts will open at the Saatchi Gallery in London starting summer 2010 through to January 2011.



THE OPENING OF FRANCOIS PINAULT'S COLLECTION AT GARAGE CCC, MOSCOW

Last Thursday saw the opening of the most important exhibition of international contemporary art ever staged in Moscow, taking over most of the 8,500 square metres of Dasha Zhukova's art gallery, The Garage (GCCC Moscow). 'A Certain State of the World?' presents a selection of works from François Pinault's private art collection including works by Jeff Koons and Francesco Vezzoli who were at the opening. Determined not to let the recession dampen the opening, Zhukova (pictured below with Pinault), girlfriend of the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, said: "The Moscow public needs, in a way, an introduction to contemporary art and doing a group show like this is a great stepping stone to that," she said. "The Garage will go on."



NEW ART FROM LONDON, BAIBAKOV ART PROJECTS AT THE RED OCTOBER CHOCOLATE FACTORY, MOSCOW

'Natural Wonders: New Art from London', curated by Nick Hackworth, director of the London gallery Paradise Row, features over 20 London-based artists including Tim Braden (below), Shezad Dawood, Idris Khan, Eloise Fornieles, Conrad Shawcross and Douglas White. The show attempts to capture the energy, vitality and diversity of the London art scene and to identify some of the different trends in thought and cultural production.



NEWS: MOSCOW GETS FREE ART ON THE BIG SCREEN

The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow is presenting its first offsite project with a giant video installation on the top of the Mosenergo building opposite the Kremlin. 'Moscow on the Move' showcases works by leading Russian and international artists 24 hours a day including AES+F, Artavazd Peleshan, Doug Aitken, Fischli & Weiss, Douglas Gordon, Pipilotti Rist and Cao Fei. Dasha Zhukova, Founder of GCCC, launched the project with the busy people of Moscow in mind: 'Many of them may love contemporary art, but they may not have the time to go out to a museum. Everyone is always in a rush, so I thought this would be a nice way for people on their way to work to get a glimpse of these beautiful works.'



ANTHONY HADEN-GUEST'S MOSCOW DIARY

It was clear that the Moscow openings of the Garage and the Gagosian exhibition at the Red October Chocolate Factory were going to make for a few days that would be heady, even by the credit crunch-defying standards of the Upper Art World. The Garage, a Contemporary art space funded by Dasha Zhukova, the significant other of Roman Abramovich, and Larry Gagosian (below) had their opening dinners on consecutive evenings. And this attracted a pool of art world movers - from museum folk like Robert Storr, Gary Tinterow and Nicholas Serota to artists like Takashi Murakami.



FOR WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO RECEIVE AT GAGOSIAN, MOSCOW

Gagosian Gallery is hosting its second major exhibition in Moscow this autumn at a 19th-century former chocolate factory called Red October, a powerfully suggestive and highly atmospheric architectural landmark named in the spirit of the Bolshevik Revolution. The exhibition, entitled 'for what you are about to receive', contrasts ways in which contemporary artists continue to investigate the twin pillars of 20th century art, the readymade and pure abstraction, reflecting on the sublime through a self-conscious engagement with material and process.



ANTHONY HADEN-GUEST REPORTS FROM MOSCOW'S ART DISTRICT, WINZAVOD

Anthony Haden-Guest visits Moscow's version of New York's Chelsea, home to the city's biggest photo studio, Eleven, various art and design-related enterprises and such crucial contemporary art galleries as M&J Guelman Gallery, the Aidan Gallery, XL and the youngest, Proun. It also provides studio space for eleven artists, including Alexey Kalima, an ethnic Russian who bills himself a 'Chechen artist'. In 2005 he won Russia's first state-sponsored prize for visual art with 'Chelsea vs. Terek', an installation in which bearded Chechens in Adidas (below) clobbered London's Premiership football club, Chelsea, which is owned by the oligarch, Roman Abramovich.



MARTIN MALONEY AT GARY TATINTSIAN GALLERY, MOSCOW

One of Britain's finest chroniclers of daily life, Martin Maloney is having his first solo show at the Russian outpost of the New York gallery, Gary Tatintsian. The exhibition presents 25 portraits by Maloney, which critics have described as being like children's drawings. Taking this as a compliment, Maloney's riposte is: "They mean to say by this: 'We are fascinated with your ability to infuse with life the most complex color combinations, which are more suited to abstract painting... We are delighted with your spontaneity and we are grateful to you for sharing with us your irrepressible enjoyment...' "



SHIMON OKSHTEYN AT THE STATE RUSSIAN MUSEUM, ST PETERSBURG

'Shimon Okshteyn: Dialogue with Objects' brings together work produced by the New York-based artist over the past 25 years since his emigration from the former Soviet Union. It includes a range of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and a selection of newer pieces that are among Okshteyn's most ambitious to date. This exhibition is not an attempt to construct a historical narrative but rather an introduction to Okshteyn's work aimed at a general audience and a new generation of Russians who grew up in the post-perestroika era.



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