Accessories and Beyond

East Meets West Gallery
«Accessories and Beyond»
East Meets West Gallery curator Tatiana Paleeva is proud to present «Accessories and Beyond», which will run at the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Arts from February 21 to March 15, 2015.
The exhibition was made possible by joint efforts of the Museum’s departments, private collectors A. L. Kusakin and G. I. Presnyakova, the East Meets West Gallery and the artists themselves.
Accessories by the beginning of the 20th century were more relevant to the world of women than men: the world of their interiors, their clothes, their hobbies. In this regard, the worlds of Olga Pluzhnikova-Orlova, Ekaterina Rozhkova and Katya-Anna Taguti will be unveiled in the Museum halls 31-34.
The idea of the exhibit grew from a very personal series of works by Olga Pluzhnikova-Orlova dedicated to her favorite accessories – shoes. Each pair on canvas, whether expensive boots from the Galerie Lafayette or simple felt versions like “Goodbye Youth” are equally dear to her, and she has kept them to this day. Each is associated with strong memories of travel, meetings and partings, as often indicated in the names of works. Pluzhnikova’s works contain lots of introspective thinking; she attempts to look inside herself not only in self-portraits, but also while portraying other women or subjects related to their world.
Perhaps the most interesting are her roller graphic art pieces or “frescos”: whether in sketch figures of people from nature or figures of saints leaning in prayer and “floating” in the air, a sense of secret inner meaning is very much present in each work. Her brushwork may appear to be typically “Moscovite” at first glance, but it is rarely airy and light. “Her brush touches the canvas almost without her will, creating a mass of warm and vibrant pastiches, creating floating and translucent shapes and objects as if in a dream.” (A. Yakimovich, “Collection” Magazine No. 1, February 2005)
The world of Katya-Anna Taguti is presented in a series of works entitled “Family Album Pages”, which store memorable and dear little things of her heart: snapshots of relatives (who are often known to the artist only from the photographs), collectible stamps, hand-written notes, bills, icons or even dried leaves taken to commemorate a walk in the woods or the park. Anna’s screen prints on paper and textile panels contain memorable images, mainly lace photography of the 19th century from the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna and vintage lace accessories from the family collection.
Comparing woven lace patterns with the threads of fate is a well-known metaphor, and each lace product, based on original patterns by the author, is unique, just as the life of an individual. These unique antique and vintage lace accessories will be exhibited by the Textile Department of the Museum, and will include samples out of Vologda, Yelets and Balakhna from the late 19th and early 20th centuries made by famous artists and masters of their time V. D. Veselova and M. N. Grunicheva, as well as an urban lace suit from the turn of the century consisting of a jacket and skirt made entirely using manual weaving bobbins.
Private collectors A. L. Kusakin and G. I. Presnyakova specialize in the items of interior decoration and costume accessories from the early and mid-19th century, providing original items that have become a rarity in our time. These antique objects demonstrate a very real connection to the contemporary world and the continuity of time. The exhibit reveals the story of women’s world using different generations of the same family, when women were engaged in furnishing the house, decorating its interior and filling it with works created with her own hands: embroidery, beading, and lace. In many houses today one can still find beaded pictures of European life in the 18th and 19th centuries, elegant boxes from various kinds of wood, embroidered purses, handbags and wallets, etc.
The art world of Ekaterina Rozhkova contains no human figures, but her “baptism robes” contain the warmth of her two daughters’ bodies, with the fine transparent white batiste symbolizing the purity of a child who is at the beginning of her life; this is supported as well by a disembodied lightness that “carries” the robe to different parts of the metal sheet. The contrast between the imaginary robe and the very real, hard metal translates creates a strong symbolism; the lightness and weightlessness of the robe point to the purity of baptism and the beginnings of life – in contrast to the rigidity and problems of the adult world.
For the last two decades Ekaterina has demonstrated a commitment to monochrome minimalism. The exquisite single objects and minimalistic art technics in her latest work affirm the deep contemplation of an object as one of the basic principles of her artistic vision.
Her symbolism and her touchingly delicate attitude to each object almost as a jewel allowed us to draw parallels between this series of works and items of handcrafted modern Russian jewelry from the collection of the Metal and Stone Department of the Museum, which has a very unique collection from the 1970s and 1980s, a period when the addition of new forms, new materials and technologies in jewelry art created a new ideological wave. The Museum’s collection from this period is considered not only the best in Russia, but also one of the best in Europe.
We are pleased to invite you to “Accessories and Beyond” at the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art, Halls 31-34 from February 21 to March 15, 2015.
The Museum is open daily (except Tuesdays) from 10:00 to 18:00, Thursday until 21:00.
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EAST MEETS WEST GALLERY
Director Tatiana Paleeva
Tel.: 8 (916) 680 53 90
E-mail: paleeva@emwgallery.com
www.eastmeetswestgallery.com