из России с любовью
Russian photography curators visit Houston to plan 2012 FotoFest Biennial
Sergey Petruhin, Three Sailors’s Striped Vests, 1968
Nikita Pirogov, Natasha, from the series The Other Shore, 2009-2011
Olga Tobreluts, Modernization (detail of tryptch), 2002
Dasha Zhukova
The Garage Center for Contemporary CulturePhoto via The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture/Facebook
“There are no photographic arts programs in Russia,” explained Irina Chmyreva, who was in town from Moscow with fellow curator Evgeny Berezner to make final preparations for three central exhibits on contemporary Russian photography at the 2012 FotoFest Biennial that will take place in Houston in the spring.
“There’s a new program at the Rodchenko Moscow School, but it has yet to be accredited,” she said. “For many decades now, artists interested in photography always study abroad.”
"We want to challenge expectations of what people have come to associate with Russian art and photography, mainly constructivism and socialist realism," FotoFest's Vinod Hopson said.
Chmyreva, who teaches photography in the book design department at Russian Academy of Arts, noted that photography still struggles to define itself as an independent artistic medium in Russian — in many ways, a byproduct of photography’s precarious relationship with Soviet authorities throughout the 20th century.
While avant-garde artists looked to new photographic techniques like photomontage throughout the 1920s, Josef Stalin's strict artistic control over art production until his death in 1953 greatly hindered the evolution of a modernist photographic movement, the effects of which are still seen in contemporary Russia.
For western audiences, FotoFest press coordinator Vinod Hopson explained, Russian photography remains relatively unexplored territory within modern art.
"We want to challenge expectations of what people have come to associate with Russian art and photography, mainly constructivism and socialist realism," Hopson said, noting that the art world’s knowledge of Russian aesthetic developments across the last half century proves hazy at best.
Along with fellow veteran curators Evgeny Berezner and Natalia Tarasova, Chmyreva has devised three exhibits for FotoFest to unravel the history of modern and contemporary Russian photography: post-Stalin works, the photographic art of 1980s Perestroika, and developments of living photo artists from the past 20 years (including Russia’s newest talent).
A veteran curatorial team that has assembled more than 200 exhibitions on historical and contemporary Russian artists, these three curators have partnered with Moscow’s noted Garage Center for Contemporary Culture since 2008 to examine Russian art’s complex recent past and uncover innovative work by younger working artists.
High-profile art collector Dasha Zhukova — the American-educated Muscovite who founded the Garage Center and its educational outreach wing Iris Foundation — has worked closely with the curators to present a thorough review of contemporary Russian photography for American audiences.
The 2012 Biennial opens with a free public celebration Friday, Mar. 16, 2012 at FotoFest’s downtown headquarters (1113 Vine). Organizers expect the event to draw more than 3,000 people. Details on the multiple locations for the 2012 Biennial will be released on FotoFest’s website in the coming months.
