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The exhibition “Create your own museum” is open at the Gary Tatintsian gallery

For Gary Tatintsyan, who opened his gallery in Moscow two years ago, an exhibition of works from his own collection became a way of agitation and propaganda. By combining in one room photographs of Alexander Rodchenko and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, drawings by Kazimir Malevich, the late 15th century icon “The Miracle of George on the Serpent,” paintings by Daniel Richter, Vik Muniz, Peter Halley, sculpture by the Chapman brothers and Tony Matelli, Tatintsyan tried to give something like psychotherapy session for insecure collectors: there can be no bad combinations in a good collection. An important addition to the exhibition was the catalog - both more works and a lot of valuable advice. Statements from famous collectors, gallery owners, dealers, and consultants work as a sedative. A mixture of quotes - that all collectors make mistakes at the beginning of their journey, that one should trust one’s taste, that a collection is an investment, and a consequence of an artist’s mad passion, and a way to convey the “cultural profile” of an era to future generations - with a strict approach may seem slightly contradictory. But all theses are convincingly confirmed by works of art: looking at them is a pleasure. The difference in prices at which their owner bought them is also impressive. And Tatintsyan knows how to love artists so as to support them and not offend himself - most of the exhibition consists of works by those creators whom he represented as a gallerist: Tony Matelli with the continuation of the sculptural series “Fucked” - this time in the main role is not a monkey, but a man (but he also got a lot of trouble), luxurious abstraction by Peter Halley, drawings by Kazimir Malevich. Some favorite names were left out of the exhibition, but their works graced the catalog - there is also something that could be seen in other galleries, for example, sculptures by Jonathan Meese.

Of course, the gallery owner does not show his entire collection - the hundreds of works he collected over two decades are scattered across countries and continents, apartments and bank vaults; and Tatintsyan likes to make exhibitions spacious, so that every thing is visible. An experienced collector who gained experience as a gallerist in the center of artistic life - in New York, today he offers perhaps the most interesting exhibition program in Moscow: foreign artists of varying degrees of fame are always represented with their best works. The repertoire includes rising stars, celebrities at the zenith of fame, popular designers - the positive, constantly smiling Tatintsyan loves bright, lively, cheerful artists. Alas, the pathos of his message is not easy to grasp - more often one can only guess about who is collecting what and how. But the situation is slowly changing.

Fashionable during the perestroika years, when the public first had the opportunity to get acquainted with works from famous private collections in Moscow, Gary Tatintsyan’s gallery has now found a second wind. In the near future we will be introduced to the most important collections of contemporary art: in a couple of weeks the Ekaterina Foundation will open its halls on Lubyanka, and in another month the first private museum of contemporary art, Igor Markin, will open. Then it will be possible to talk more substantively about how individual each collection is, how it expresses the taste of the owner and influences the development of the arts. While it is known that formerly famous more for their patriotic convictions than for their refined taste, New Russian collectors are beginning to pay attention to those treasures that the rest of humanity values. It is not known with what degree of reliability, but it is our compatriots who are now credited with almost all the high-profile purchases at foreign auctions. They are also beginning to collect works by less-promoted artists - it is not only Tatintsyan’s example that convinces us that it is better to buy works of art in advance, before they cost millions, and that masterpieces get along with each other much better than their not-so-successful counterparts.

Faina BALAKHOVSKAYA