Art under arrest

On April 2, it became known that on April 14, in Moscow, the Expo-88 gallery exhibition will open an exhibition of painting the accused in the Oboronservis case Evgenia Vasilyeva (I recall, we are talking about theft, the damage from which is 3 billion rubles). Starting with Izvestia , reports of the upcoming exhibition began to appear as soon as the “Fool's Day” ended so that there was no doubt that this is not a joke. But it is so similar to a draw, I would even like it that he was.

It is forbidden to communicate with journalists under house arrest of Vasilyeva by court order and leave home. She will not give an interview in connection with the exhibition-Elena Yakovleva’s lawyer and head of EXPO-88 have already spoke out for her-and will not come to the opening. But at the same time, she managed to prepare her small retrospective. Together with the owner of the gallery, they took a third of the six dozen of the currently available canvases.

In general, Vasilieva during investigative events and house arrest plunged into art: in addition to paintings, she writes poetry, for example, about painting , makes songs from her original arrangement. It is said that some lawyers involved in this case, such creative bursts, when they contacted them, were a little embarrassed.

Over the past few years, especially after last year’s letters of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, it has become clear that among those who are under arrest or in places of imprisonment of free creativity, only those who, even if they were stained and fell into royal disgrace, have been left, and those who are not involved in politics on the side of any opposition group. Perhaps now the defendants of the sensational criminal cases are not from among the political prisoners (we understand) will take care of creativity and present it to a wide audience. Evgenia Vasiliev, as they say, sets the trend. Not Yuri Saprykin, of course, but also nothing.

In the summer of 2003, viewers were shown a real action movie. Police special forces took the offices and apartments stormed, caught “werewolves in uniform”. This expression appeared precisely then thanks to Boris Gryzlov, at that time the Minister of the Interior. It turned out that senior employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergencies created a criminal group, roofing business, and engaged in extortion. Plus, drugs that the criminals threw the victims (during the searches, for example, they seized more than a hundred grams of cocaine), and weapons.

The main accused in the case of the “werewolves” was Vladimir Ganeyev, Lieutenant General of the Ministry of Emergencies, who was eventually deprived of the rank and condemned by 20 years (later the efforts of lawyers were reduced to 18 years ). When they began to search at his dacha, it turned out that a person did not deny himself the pleasures: “Oak stairs. Custom -made bronze ten -meter chandelier. Marble fireplaces. Exclusive furniture. In each room - by home theater (all of the equipment for a million dollars). Only the curtains, as the receipts found, cost him 20 thousand “green”. The general wardrobes resembled a boutique. Two hundred couple of costumes, an incredible number of female handbags and dresses, stacks of shoes. The scattering of boxes from jewelry (the jewelry itself, as well as foreign cars - two “BMW”, three “Mercedes” - Ganeyev’s relatives managed to evacuate before the search). ”

The former lieutenant general could become a curator or a galleryman (the second is undoubtedly closer to him). It can be assumed that his interest would be focused on expensive spectacular sculptures and installations, as well as a video art. In general, he was drawn to the screen culture, and not only because "in every room - on the home cinema." In the Spanish town of Marbella, where he had a dear villa, his neighbors were Hollywood stars.

The Council and connections of Ganeyev could help the great specialist in the art of Asian countries David Ellitt, appointed by the curator of the upcoming youth Biennale in Moscow . If Ganeyev were a galleryman, he would, like Gary Tatintsyan, posted an exhibition site in an expensive house like “Arthaus”, would tell glossy magazines about his passion for art. I would show large -format photographs and painting, for the most part from China - always Ai Weiwei, Takashi Murakami, bronze sculptures of Rakib show, light installations and a lot of videos: Bill Viola, Aes + F , etc. I would arrange chic vernisages, during which it would have been striking to walk among solid guests.

However, in the current situation, all this convicted in the “werewolves in uniform” is inaccessible (although who knows). But perhaps he could make an exhibition in the walls of the prison. I would organize a collaborative project with other prisoners, they would have shot the same video, nevertheless, the former employee of the Ministry of Emergencies has organizational abilities; I would have knocked out a budget from the prison leadership under the project - there is experience.

Sergei Mavrodi, who is specially even strange to represent, is all the time in the field of view of law enforcement agencies. His indefatigable entrepreneurial - in every sense - ambitions cannot but hit, but he is also an artist, in any case, for me. I have long ceased to perceive it as a mythological hero from the "dashing nineties." What he does now is much more interesting. His video surveys laid out in YouTube are comparable to what Andrei Monastyrsky is doing under the guise of Semyon Poyacheva and Anna Matskievich , a folk artist literally.

Throwing his hands behind his head, Sergey Panteleevich begins: “So news. Well, what are our news? We themselves saw all this news. ” Verbal acrobatics in places almost like Viktor Chernomyrdin, and the presentation of his “I”, your voice, face and body, as a central artistic object-like that of Vladislav Mamyshev-Monro. And since both, that Chernomyrdin, that Mamyshev-Monro is no longer with us, Mavrodi may well take an empty place. It is especially worth paying attention to how the artist has clothes - this is a lot of meaning. In the series "Prison Diaries", he masterfully uses the ability to build an exposition: we see not only the performer itself, but also a truly ingenious total installation.

It remains only to wonder why not one of the Russian institutions involved in the show of such works has used the video of Sergei Mavrodi. Olga Sviblova, Karina Karaeva, Olga Shishko, well, why did you see!