Objects in Mirror Are Closer than They Appear:  About videoart in Russia

Opening: Tuesday 1. 6. 2010 18.00
exhibition dates: 2. 6. – 8. 8. 2010

curator:  Antonio Geusa

participating artists: AES+F, Viсtor Alimpiev, Vika Begalska, Blue Noses, Bluesoup, Sergey Bratkov, Olga Chernysheva, Collective Actions, Fcuk, Lyudmila Gorlova, Dmitry Gutov, Anna Jermolaewa, Oleg Kulik, Anton Litvin, Vladimir Logutov, Vladislav Mamyshev-Monroe, Andrey Monastyrsky, Pirate Telvision, Kirill Preobrazhensky, Prometheus Institute, PROVMYZA, Gia Rigvava, Sergey Shutov, TOBRELUTS, Boris Yukhananov, Vadim Zakharov and others

Video as an artistic practice is fairly new in Russia. Its origins date back in the mid 1980s, but its affirmation took place only a decade later with the opening of the first spaces devoted to contemporary art. The censoring control of the Soviet political powers over all means of technological reproduction had severely hindered the diffusion of video cameras and recorders. Video emerged and matured in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union – those were years of radical changes affecting the economic, political and social structure of the country at all levels. Video turned out to be the most effective instrument artists had at their disposal to give voice to their deep need to define their identity, to explain to the wider public their role and function in the new Russia after so many years of relegation into the semi-clandestinity of their flats and studios and, at the same time, to build a dialogue with the world behind the once insurmountable Iron Curtain. Through the years, video has consolidated its importance in the production and fruition of art with a plurality of expressions which have given and keep giving a substation contribution to the world art discourse.