What is happening in Russian video art? Find out with Olga Chernysheva at ICA and Whitespace London January 2009
Posted by artradar on January 1, 2009
Olga Chernysheva Moscow Area
RUSSIAN VIDEO ART LONDON
Russian video art is on our radar. With Dasha Zhukova currently showing 12 leading video artists on giant outdoor screens in Moscow and Russian video artist group AES+F experiencing meteoric success over the last 18 months, interest in electronic and new media art in and from Russia is on the rise. Now there is an opportunity to learn more about Russian video art by talking with and experiencing the works of artist Olga Chernysheva in London this winter.
Moscow-based Russian artist Olga Chernysheva, a graduate of the Moscow Cinema Academy and the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam, captures quotidian life in post-communist Russia.
Olga Chernysheva talk and video show at ICA January 13 2009
On 13 January 2009 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts she discusses her practice in the context of Russia today, and shows several of her video works.
In The Train (2003), the director’s camera traverses the cars of an intercity Moscow train; Anonymous (2004) portrays a middle-aged woman and a drunken man each having a private moment in a public park; and March (2005) captures the dynamics between young male cadets, scantily clad teenage cheerleaders and band members performing before a corporate event. The programme also includes her newest video, Untitled After Sengai (2008).
ICA Olga Chernysheva talk details
Olga Chernysheva From the Deputy
White Space gallery exhibition of Olga Chernysheva photographs to January 17 2009
White Space gallery presents Acquaintance. a new series of photographs by Russian artist Olga Chernysheva. A series of new drawings, a video and a sculptural installation will also be exhibited.
Chernysheva’s work frequently expresses a social interest in relation to how her country is changing. For instance, in her Moscow Area series she might highlight those things frequently relegated to the edges of society and consciousness, such as a group of elderly in a home, an old lady entering a church to pray, or the queues of people entering and exiting the Moscow underground metro system.
Likewise, monuments from the time of Communism are explored in the Alley of Cosmonauts series in terms of their intended meaning as symbols of power and the advancement of the Communist state, versus their current semi-ruinous condition – in what also seems to be either a muddy and disorganized building site – as remnants of a previous civilization, dotted amongst a new society growing around them.
Whilst one can frequently read disillusionment, loss and isolation in Chernysheva’s images, one also sees signs of life and renewal, perseverance and warmth in what they depict. Her films and photographs transcend their documentary function, investigating instead the very fabric of the individuality, stoicism and self-sufficiency of the Russian character, meditating at the same time on the role of the artist in a time of change.
Related:
- Olga Chernysheva website
- Dasha Zhukova currently showing 12 leading video artists Dec 2008
- Russian new media artists at MOMA Moscow where interest in electronic art grows Sep 2008
- Russian video artist group AES+F experiencing meteoric success Art Newspaper interview August 2008
More posts on Russian art, video art, urban art, photography, reports from London
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