Translated material
Expensive and thick
The Art Moscow fair opened in the capital's Central House of Artists
Contemporary art is in high esteem today. Eleven years ago, during the first “Art Moscow”, which existed as an experimental model of a market that did not yet exist, several galleries sold artists’ works at prices that now would not buy their own handwriting on restaurant bills. And the total revenue of the first “Art Moscow” was approximately equal to the current price for a solid work by the fashion tandem Dubossarsky-Vinogradov. Times have changed. Investing in art is now profitable. Prepared by Expo-Park. Exhibition Projects" and the regional public fund for supporting art projects "Art-Moscow", the current fair convinces with the perfectionism of many gallery exhibitions offering high-quality and expensive art. The image of “Art Moscow” today is little different from its sisters in respectable cities of Europe and America. There are a good half of galleries from near and far abroad this May. And it’s great that the fair has not yet lost the energy of an experimental project: it is framed by non-profit programs, thanks to the work of an expert council of the best specialists in the field of contemporary art, it stimulates a creative attitude towards participation from both artists and gallerists. Today's "Art Moscow" is simply an excellent art exhibition with a parade of stars, from Russian to foreign, such as Michelangelo Pistoletto, Janis Kounellis, Tony Matelli...Monitoring prices for art this year may be disappointing in comparison with the very recent past. Everything is becoming more expensive rapidly. Studying the price lists for paintings and large-scale installations of famous Russian galleries XL, Aidan, Rosa Azora, Regina, ARTStrelka Projects, Kovcheg, Gary Tatintsyan, as well as Kyiv Fine Art, let me make the following observation: The art of actively working masters from Russia and Ukraine can still be purchased at a price within 10-15 thousand. A unique record was set by Nikola Ovchinnikov’s pictorial installation, which imitated a museum exhibition of the Russian avant-garde, as if seen through a lens that greatly distorted the proportions. For a wall of such painting, the gallery asks 84 thousand. The works of Russian stars of the eighties are very expensive: the creations of Semyon Faibisovich by the Regina gallery are sold at prices up to 40 thousand. A generation is becoming museum history. Works by Western stars (like Tony Matelli and Vik Muniz) in Gary Tatintsian's gallery are offered for amounts no longer in tens, but in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Young Russian and Ukrainian art can still be bought at reasonable prices, from 1.5 to 5 thousand. for the picture. True, there are exceptions. A huge painting imitating pixel jagged edges by Natalia Struchkova, whose painting is a commercial success at international fairs, is estimated by the Regina gallery at as much as 35 thousand.
Non-profit projects deserve a separate discussion. One of them is dedicated to the new biennale in the town of Shargorod in Ukraine. Another, prepared by the M'ARS association and curated by Antonio Geusa, parodies the reality shows of the Dom-2 and Behind the Glass format. For the entire duration of the fair, seven stars of contemporary Russian art (among them Sergei Shutov, Diana Machulina, Elena Kovylina, Anton Litvin) will live in one room, solve creative problems and test each other's nerves. The jury will decide who is the most creative and mentally stable at the end of the fair.
A separate bonus is personal exhibitions at commercial gallery stands. The author's exhibition of photographs by Vladislav Efimov about the antique point of view on household appliances of the ancient past turned out to be absolutely delightful. It was prepared by the relatively young London gallery Ravenscourt, which has been successfully participating in Art Moscow for the second year with projects by Russian artists.
The owner of the XL gallery Elena SELINA spoke about the specifics of working at Russian contemporary art fairs “Vremya Novostei”.
— Lena, “Art Moscow” is so successful and attractive today, not least thanks to your active participation in our art process at all its steep turns. Is the ability to combine an iron commercial grip with a willingness to be a cultural missionary a mandatory quality for a successful gallery owner?
- Yes. Certainly. If you open a gallery, you need to learn to think creatively. The easiest way is to hang a room with paintings by Dubossarsky-Vinogradov and their numerous imitators. But this is boring and even strategically incorrect. The gallery must renew the blood and stimulate new interest in the viewer-buyer in yet unpromoted types, forms, and genres. What is important to me today is new technologies that overcome traditional stereotypes about what an installation, painting, or sculpture is. I am pleased to exhibit multimedia art by Aristarkh Chernyshev and Alexey Shulgin. And next to them it’s completely different, the classic Pivovarov or Mamyshev-Monroe looks interesting. New decoys are appearing; both the visitor and I are interested!
— Maybe the inability to think creatively is the reason why not so many new galleries are appearing at Art Moscow in particular and in Moscow in general...
-- Agree. The problem is that there are few new artists. And the recognized ones have already chosen their partners.
— Is the level of art presented in different galleries this year high?
-- Level. Unlike Aidan (gallery owner and artist Aidan Salakhova - Ed. ), I don’t think that the quality has somehow improved significantly compared to last year. I personally am a little shocked by the desire of galleries to fight for every square centimeter of the space allotted to them. Everything is very densely packed.