Organica

The Moscow City Duma Environmental Policy Commission

Department of Culture of the Central Administrative District of Moscow

East Meets West Gallery (Tatiana Paleeva, Curator)

 ORGANICA

 Who in Moscow lives well? This is not a simple question if you think about it. The exhibit is addressed at those who think about themselves, about their families, about their health and safety and about the interconnected megapolis in which they live. The participating artists try to live in harmony both with themselves and with nature, and through their efforts can help us enjoy life in the everyday coexistence of man and nature.

The “greening” of culture and art is now taking place all over the world. This involves not just the emergence of new environmentally designed products or changes in the content of traditional artistic media, but also the appearance of new synthetic genres that are directly related to the environmental movement. And the art-project “Organica” is an attempt to demonstrate the possibilities of a synthesis of art, design and architecture, including environmental landscapes, sculptures made of organic materials, eco-photography, architectural design, phyto-design, installations, architectural spatial forms and compositions as well as interactive media as “Drawing All, Large and Small” (The Weekend Art Studio) and even a playground for toddlers.

Suren Aivazyan is showing new works specifically dedicated to this exhibit, opening a new chapter in his continuing series “The Secret Society of Total Greening”. With his hyperbolic flowers and delicate fresh herbs he not only “greens” exhibit halls in Moscow, Europe and America, but also the walls and ceilings of his friends and relatives.

Maxim Baryshnikov is an experimental photographer and lomographer, appearing with us for the first time. His credo is to create “my own parallel universe of ghosts, spirits and illusions”. With the help of photographic techniques he makes them seem as visible and real as photographs of cars, models and hamburgers that appears on the pages of magazines and advertising posters. His project “The Island” has a singular, dramatic expressiveness.

We first introduced the young designers from the “Ultra Bionic” studio Anna Bokova and Daria Kovaleva at “ARTMANEGE 2009”, and this year they have prepared a new installation entitled “Ecosystem”. The driving theme here is the search for new materials to create bioforms that can be used in design and architecture as additional building materials. Their structures use patterns resembling those created by natural processes, such as growth, decomposition, erosion, turbulence or the works of biological species such as anthills, beehives and coral.

Kuzma Grigoryev debuted with his project “Cutting through Darkness” in the “Volga” gallery. His photographs are distinguished by their modernistic way of expressing unique inner worlds, which creates an interesting and imaginative perspective of the young artist. In our “Dark Room” installation he will show his new series “Night”.

Peter Grigoriev is a famous master on evangelical topics, but now for the first time in many years is showing his secular works created in the 1990s in a small town of Provence. Especially dear to him are the “Marine” monotypes, based on sunset impressions from the island of Silt with a feminine silhouette against the sea (for which his wife Ekaterina Kudryavtseva posed).

Ekaterina Kudryavtseva has worked with us already for the past five years. She doesn’t just draw nature, but rather puts down live roots through her animated trees. Leaves as a symbol of time, beauty, life and death are her favorite motif, and her flowers integrate a decorative generality, the play of light and shadow and magnified details.

Hans Mendler is known in his native Germany and through Europe and as an artist and a sculptor. His works are striking for their between abstract and figurative art, easily moving from one type to another, and the driving themes are dynamics, movement and flow – whether the movement of water in a river, feathers in flight or eddies of wind. Hans’ creative approach is most fully expressed in his wooden sculpture and associated objects. He constructed his own mythological series based on ancient sagas, using “primitive” methods of woodworking such as saw and axe together with classical painting technologies. Paradoxically, these methods create an overwhelming impression of modernity of his works.

Alexander Oligerov is a new name in Moscow, but not in Europe and St. Petersburg.

In 2004 he won first prize in the painting category in the Hermitage competition in St. Petersburg, and also participated in the international “Artists from Five Continents” exhibit in Paris in 2007. His painting is born of deep philosophical observation and a very active attitude towards life; it is young, fervent and modern, though still within the framework of fine art. The main motto of the author is “It’s high time to start sewing together diverging space; not everyone is up to it, but I’ve already begun.”

Hans Mendler is known in his native Germany and through Europe and as an artist and a sculptor. His works are striking for their between abstract and figurative art, easily moving from one type to another, and the driving themes are dynamics, movement and flow – whether the movement of water in a river, feathers in flight or eddies of wind. Hans’ creative approach is most fully expressed in his wooden sculpture and associated objects. He constructed his own mythological series based on ancient sagas, using “primitive” methods of woodworking such as saw and axe together with classical painting technologies. Paradoxically, these methods create an overwhelming impression of modernity of his works.

Olga Muravina is known for her extraordinarily animated sculptures of children and animals, where the animals are humanized and the people are primitive, so it seemed natural to put them in the Children’s Playground installation. Olga’s creations are always kind and smiling, similar to good and kind people.

Sergei Sobolev is showing his three-dimensional forms, and in particular the expressive works from the series “Fruits” and “Simple Forms”. According to Sergei, “The main artistic credo for me is ‘form-therapy’, i.e., forms that allow the eyes to rest.” This applies to his sculptures and interior spaces as well as industrial design. Sergei’s works are done in fiberglass, and may be painted (as in the case of “Fruits”) or may be basic white or metallic.

Julian Rukavishnikov (1922 – 2000) – a second generation of famous sculptor’s dynasty, a Fellow of the Russian Academy of the Arts, the People’s Artist of Russia.

Beginning from 1973 Julian approached a completely new to him subject: abstract and non-anthropomorphic sculpture. From that time until the end of his life he worked on the series of sculptural and graphic works entitled “Nature (Evolution and Transformation)”. This series created during almost 30 years was a truly personal project for the sculptor. We are thankful to Julian’s son and follower Alexander Rukavishnikov who gave us the possibility to present you a tiny part of this important project.

In 2010 a major retrospective exhibition of Julian Rukavishnikov’s works took place in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow showcasing the series “Nature (Evolution and Transformation)” to the contemporary audience.

Works by Julian Rukavishnikov are part of the major museum and private collections in Russia. Only State Tretyakov Gallery has 12 of his pieces.

Valery Syrovatkin is an artist, filmmaker and photographer, and is well-known as the author of installations in the “Cinema” Gallery of the “Glamour /Anti-Glamour” art-project. His work “The Triumph of the Lady-Bugs” reflects the author’s passion for reality games, where pictures of painted toilet doors become an important artistic statement.

Please join us from 18 to 30 January 2011 at the “Salt” space at the Gallery Na Solyanke. The gallery is open from 12.00 to 20.00, Tuesday through Sunday (closed Monday).

Address: Solyanka 1/2, bldg 2 (entrance from Zabelina St.)

Tel.: 7 (495) 621-55-72

www.solgallery.ru

EAST MEETS WEST GALLERY

Director Paleeva Tatiana

Tel.: 8-916-680-5390

E-mail: paleeva@emwgallery.com

www.eastmeetswestgallery.ru