New exhibition “Space. Action” at Vnutri Art Center in Moscow is opening in September as part of the parallel program of Cosmoscow, a prominent independent art fair.
The exposition explores the tense relationship between people and space they inhabit. Here, space can be an abandoned quarry, a sea horizon, a room with a Soviet sideboard, Palace Square in Saint Petersburg, or an industrial cityscape — very different fragments of Russian landscape, familiar to those who grew up here. These spatial images become autonomous plots and characters, alongside the people who appear in the video art and documentation of performances.
The exposition explores the tense relationship between people and space they inhabit. Here, space can be an abandoned quarry, a sea horizon, a room with a Soviet sideboard, Palace Square in Saint Petersburg, or an industrial cityscape — very different fragments of Russian landscape, familiar to those who grew up here. These spatial images become autonomous plots and characters, alongside the people who appear in the video art and documentation of performances.
Elena Kovylina, "Equality" (2014). Video documentation of the performance, 7′58″
Curated by Anna Titovets Intektra, the exhibition features well-known artists, some with international careers. It brings together works by AES+F, Stas Bags, Liza Bobkova, Evgeny Gavrilov, Jenia Granilshchikov, Alexander Gronsky, Platon Infante, Marina Alexeeva & Boris Kazakov, Elena Kovylina, Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich, PROVMYZA, Tima Radya, Dima Rotkin (RTKN) & Alexander Tsikarishvili, Blue Noses, Bluesoup, Maxim Tatarintsev, and Olga Chernysheva.
The exhibition’s authors reference the French writer Georges Perec and his concept of the “infra-ordinary” — the mundane things and events that usually go unnoticed. To notice them, one has to look at a place for longer than usual, until its hidden layers begin to emerge. It shifts the meaning of everyday life, making its tensions visible.
The exhibition’s authors reference the French writer Georges Perec and his concept of the “infra-ordinary” — the mundane things and events that usually go unnoticed. To notice them, one has to look at a place for longer than usual, until its hidden layers begin to emerge. It shifts the meaning of everyday life, making its tensions visible.
What makes the project particularly intriguing is its social context, in which public discussion has become increasingly cautious. Here, it becomes possible to speak about tension through space against the background of unfolding social and historical events. A place involuntarily becomes their bearer and witness. But, notably, the second word in the title is “action”.
Is it a desire to act, or at least to witness an action, even if it's simply the act of breaking Soviet-era dishes in the work by Jenia Granilshikov? Once that tension is released, space becomes more ordered. External space and inner space, the space of the soul, are closely connected.
Is it a desire to act, or at least to witness an action, even if it's simply the act of breaking Soviet-era dishes in the work by Jenia Granilshikov? Once that tension is released, space becomes more ordered. External space and inner space, the space of the soul, are closely connected.
Jenia Granilshchikov, "Family Dinner Set" (2021). Video performance, 6′11″
What if space becomes a mirror of the people who inhabit it, a mirror of the soul?
The exhibition features many works in which the environment is cold, prickly, dangerous, gray, or foggy. Spaces that echo with the sounds of bird flocks, or slowly passing carriages, or with the hum and tension of power lines. A person seems to be left alone with themselves in these spaces.
Space does not so much create tension as it absorbs it. Perhaps it becomes an outlet for what cannot otherwise be expressed — a place where internal and external tension meets.
The exhibition features many works in which the environment is cold, prickly, dangerous, gray, or foggy. Spaces that echo with the sounds of bird flocks, or slowly passing carriages, or with the hum and tension of power lines. A person seems to be left alone with themselves in these spaces.
Space does not so much create tension as it absorbs it. Perhaps it becomes an outlet for what cannot otherwise be expressed — a place where internal and external tension meets.
Cover image: Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich, "Temporary Monument N6: Cadeado" (2016). Three-channel video installation, 2'44".
The works come from the private collections of three St. Petersburg collectors — Denis Khimilyaine, Sergey Limonov, and Igor Sukhanov.
The exhibition is available only on September 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20.
The works come from the private collections of three St. Petersburg collectors — Denis Khimilyaine, Sergey Limonov, and Igor Sukhanov.
The exhibition is available only on September 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20.
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