News digest of Russian photographers / Winter 2016-2017
News from FotoDepartament.Gallery artists, alumnies of FotoDepartament.Institute, friends, colleagues from Young Russian photography generation
Anastasia Bogomolova will take part in The 1st Garage Triennial Of Russian Contemporary Art
The curators of Garage Museum of Contemporary Art have announced participants of The first Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art, which is held from 10 March – 15 May, 2017 in Garage Museum and Gorky Park. Researched the main art tendencies of more than 40 cities of Russia, Garage’s determined 7 directions, in which authors from different regions will be presented. Among them within the direction “Fidelity to the place” is FotoDepartament gallery’s photographer Anastasia Bogomolova.
In FotoDepartament store you can buy postcards, prints and books by Anastasia
Igor Samolyot’s project “Salute’s reflections” at Colta.ru and his interview for Bleek Magazine
Colta.ru has published the ongoing project by Igor Samolyot, in which the author honestly documents his life – routine full of touching, frightening and moving moments.
About his work, views on photography and russian society Igor also told in his interview for Bleek magazine.
Buy Igor’s prints in FotoDepartament store
Dmitry Lookianov’s project Instant tomorrow in the joint exhibitions “Insights” at Onomato Art Space in Dusseldorf and “City during personal time” in Moscow
Recently joint exhibition of FotoDepartament gallery’s author Dmitry Lookianov and Ji Su Kang took place at Onomato, Dusseldorf. Within the exhibition Dmirty’s project Instant tomorrow, dedicated to the life in Moscow’s high buildings – “sterile”, minimalistic world, was presented. Authors were united by striving to find connection between inner content and outer “decoration”; searching for identity within modern society; perspective view at it’s development.
From 9 December to 2 February 2017, the series Instant tomorrow was also taking part in the exhibition City during personal time at the Moscow gallery of contemporary art Fragment. Artists-participants shared their thoughts about dissolution of human life in an urban environment; oblivion of creativity and submission to technocratic tendencies.
Buy Dmitry’s book “Instant tomorrow” in FotoDepartament store
Exhibition «Toward the Source», based on Garage Archive Collection research
Five participants of the project – Vyacheslav Kuritsin, Vladimir Logutov, Andrey Monastyrsky, Kirill Savchenkov and Olga Chernysheva – have been spending 8 months, researching the Museum’s collection. Based on found materials they’ve newly interpreted archives and documents. The result is the exhibition “Toward the Source”. FotoDepartament gallery’s photographer Kirill Savchenkov was working with museum’s library, “Art projects” fund’s archive and Garage’s videoarchives within this project. Continuing The Horizon Community Workshop, he started as series of seminars about complex understanding of life, in Garage he’s presenting 5 navigational steles with methodical materials about the “outsidedness”.
The project is timed The first Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art – the biggest review of actual art practices in Russia’s regions. Both exhibitions are dedicated to drawing attention of young Russian artists and photographers, forming the face of modern art. Exposition is holding from 1 February to 23 April, in parallel with rich public program, including lectures, tours and meetings with artists.
Irina Ivannikova’s exhibition «Renovation» in FotoDepartament gallery
From 11 February to 16 March FotoDepartament gallery is holding Irina Ivannikova’s exhibition Renovation. This is the project, inspired by internet photo archives of repairs, and, later, grew into the full series, including web images as well as Irina’s photos. “Renovation” is the author’s way of living through inner conflicts; striving to know yourself. As a part of an exhibition the delegated performance “Conventions” was presented. During the opening Irina also told the audience about her work.
Uralmash — Inside the Soviet-era industrial powerhouse surviving on community spirit. Project by Fyodor Telkov in The Calvert Journal / Review of the book 36 Views in Photobookstore Magazine
The Calvert Journal publishes the article Uralmash — Inside the Soviet-era industrial powerhouse surviving on community spirit about lifes of people, born and grew up in Uralmash. This is the common portrait of those, who built the heavy industry center – one of the utopic Stalin’s projects of 1920-30s. Fyodor Telkov’s project “Uralmash. Heirs of dreams” is the documentation of nostalgic, touching, melancholic in the faces and subjects of Uralmash. The article tells about history of this “city within a city”, also about its meaning and value for Fyodor himself.
In Photobookstore magazine you can see a review of Fyodor Telkov’s book “36 Views” — the rethinking famous Hokusai’s series “36 views of Mount Fuji”. Through all 36 photographs we see Degtyarsk – small town in Sverdlovskaya oblast’ with two huge slagheaps on the background – mountains of waist gangue of the two mines. Successful in the past, city-forming enterprise for the extraction of copper ore left a real ecological catastrophe after its activity, reflected the ground and its people. In every photography these hills appear from different angles- great reference to Hokusai’s works. Hills’ image is sad conclusion about the situation, in which monocities of Russia are today.
Buy Fyodor’s book “Artless Confessions” in FotoDepartament store
Time of the Moon. Publication by Elena Kholkina on Phosmag
Phosmag within heading «Books self published» publishes articles of authors, telling to the journal about their self published photobooks. Elena Kholkina told about her book Time of the Moon — project, rethinking development of Soviet history through the material, collected by photographer during The Moscow Contemporary Art Biennale, held in VDNH in 2015. Architectural ensemble VDNH – the main object of the series, and its future is the crucial issue, posed by the author.
Buy Elena’s zines and prints in FotoDepartament store
Empty expectations. Review of Ksenia Yurkova’s book in The Calvert Journal and exhibition at The University of Arts, Helsinki
The Calvert Journal publishes the project Empty expectations, in which Ksenia Yurkova challenges the way we basically see images, narrative and visual language. There are both in the book – traditional form of photography and manipulations with it, not immediately noticeable. “Visual language develops in a set of links and attitudes, almost like verbal language” – author tells. Play with images of rock, glass, sand textures; spots of light and color forms the narrative of series.
Ksenia’s exhibition Empty Expectations, including photography, video, objects and performance, is holding at Exhibition Laboratory at The University of the Arts, Helsinki from 17 February to 12 March 2017.
Buy Ksenia’s prints in FotoDepartament store
Alexey Bogolepov’s project «Interface / Container» is included in the works of the year list: 2016 by Aroundart
The Aroundart has made the list of 15 most important projects for russian media-space development in 2016. Among them is Alexey Bogolepov’s work Interface / Container, presenting photos of Soviet architecture and its installation rethinking. Central image of the project is The ghost village – monument, created in 1985 by M.L. Hidekel and O.S. Romanov in Kirovsk in dedication of settlements burned by fascists. Interface / Container is the disclosure of the speculative realism idea: the art without audience and creators; absence of subjectivity; reboot of the mind.
9 immodest questions: Anastasia Tsayder. Interview for Bleek magazine
Bleek magazine talked to Anastasia Tsayder about typology, her views on documentary and work within the genre. “There is a phrase: ‘every thing on its place’, – and it explains very clear, why nothing should be changed. The position of objects in space, in interior often tells more, than object itself” – this close attention to the surroundings comes through all Anastasia’s projects, which not only tell, but represent reality through its specific transforming processes.
J.B. ABOUT MEN FLOATING IN THE AIR by Julia Borissova on Ostlook / Julia’s interview for Elephant magazine
Julia Borissova spoke to Ostlook magazine about her project J.B. ABOUT MEN FLOATING IN THE AIR. This is the series, inspired by the story of two Lithuanian-American pilots who tried to set a new world record by flying over the Atlantic into Eastern Europe in the early 1930s. Combination of black and white documentary stylistics and collage creates the surrealistic plot – doomed to fail searching for a way to himself through time and space, breaking the invisible boundary between himself and his mirror twin. The book is made in Leporello format, which allows the viewers to choose how to browse the images and find their own ending in this story.
Read the Julia’s interview in Elephant Magazine, where she shares the creating process of her book Liboretto, and tells why she likes using combination of mediums in her projects.
Buy Julia’s books and postcards in FotoDepartament store
Egor Rogalev in The Calvert Journal
Egor Rogalev talked to The Calvert Journal about his project Synchronicity — the portrait of post-Soviet period, made in times of decommunisation in Ukraine. There he also notes why he doesn’t consider the project architectural.
Margo Ovcharenko is an Empty Stretch grand winner
Empty Stretch has announced the first recipient of their zine grant. It is the FotoDepartament gallery photographer Margo Ovcharenko with the series «Country of Women». The project is about women, living in the former USSR and posing themselves as a queer. The hostile treatment by post-Soviet society toward the LGBTQ community has created a lack of cultural memory available for queer women in a post-Soviet world, which effected their identity inside an aggressively heteronormative society.
Love without borders. Publication of Oksana Yushko’s project in GEO Russia / “In Search of Islands” in The New York Times
During the past 3 years Oksana Yushko’s been taking photos of Russian-Ukrainian families, whose unity and warmness of relationships prove war and political prejudices wrong. In her project “Familia” there are couples found online, Oxana’s family and friends. Read the interview in GEO Russia, in which the author talks about the project.
The New York Times published Oksana’s another project called In Search of Islands, documenting life of people, rejected city lights, high salaries and authoritative position to live simple in nature. Inspired by story of her friend, who met the love on Volga’s banks and gave up her business career for happy family life in small village, Oksana decided to travel along the Volga river and photograph happy russian villagers. “The Volga River is where you would go to find the soul of Russia,” she says.
Interview and project by Jana Romanova in World Press Photo
Since 1994 World Press Photo annually organizes The Joop Swart Masterclass, gathering ones of the most important figures of world photojournalism and 12 young, promising photographers to share knowledge and experience. One of 12 participants, Jana Romanova talked to World Press Photo about her career plans, social networks, project experience and the series The goddess guide, dedicated to searching for inner beauty and people, offering unusual practices for getting it.
Buy Jana’s prints and books in FotoDepartament store
Tatyana Palyga’s photostory Colorless Days in FK Magazine
FK Magazine published Tatyana Palyga’s project Colorless Days. «I spent 8 hours and 5 days per week in office. All the days were the same. The interiors of the office – the furniture, the office machines, the walls, the light, and the daily routine of employees created an absurd and depressing atmosphere”. Tatyana created the office series, while working at a sales department in one of Russian factories.
Buy Tatyana’s prints and books in FotoDepartament store
Kir Esadov’s solo exhibition “Title: Endure” in Center Red / Publication in The Art Newspaper Russia
RuArts Foundation and Center Red present Kir Esadov’s solo exhibition «Title: Endure», which is taking place from February 16 to March 1 at the Center Red space at Red October. «Esadov – enfant terrible in the territory of contemporary art, his art practices actualize the author’s figure, consciously rejecting critical distance regarding reality” – writes artist Kirill Preobrazhensky in the press release. Hardly perceptible forms while directed expression define the project as deeply psychological studying the subject – self in the subject – self through the subject.
Read the publication about exhibition in The Art Newspaper Russia
Buy Kir’s prints in FotoDepartament store
Post-internet is avant-garde after return from black hole. Kirill Savchenkov and Irina Zadorozhnaya at Syg.ma
Sygma posted very interesting text about sources and core of post-internet. In Russia the stream is characterized by single experiments, searching for adequate answer to the tendencies’ language, its adaptation. As Russian authors, experimenting with post-internet aesthetics, Sygma presents Kirill Savchenkov with the project “Anabasis”, dedicated to visual studying of architectural heritage of USSR, and Irina Zadorozhnaya with the series “Observer effect”, where distortion of space through the use of optical illusion makes us to look at the ordinary from a qualitatively new angle.
Buy Irina’s book and prints in FotoDepartament store