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Contested Spaces in Post-Soviet Art
Russia Redux #2 |
Abilsait Atabekov, Alina & Jeff Bliumis, CAT Group, Olga Chernysheva,
Yevgeniy Fiks, Dmitry Gutov, Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djoumaliev,
Elena Kovylina, Erbossyn Meldibekov, Anatoly Osmolovsky
Taras Polataiko, REP Group
Dmitry Vilensky and Chto Delat
Curated by Elena Sorokina
March 24 through April 26
Video Screening at Art In General, 79 Walker Street, March 21 at 7pm,
Panel Discussion at Location One, 26 Greene Street, March 29 at 7 pm
Opening reception: Friday, March 23, 6-8 pm
Press Release
The exhibition "Contested Spaces in Post-Soviet Art" examines the tensions
and conflicts that define post-Soviet spaces in the age of privatization.
During the Soviet period, the landscapes of urban centers were scattered
with vacant spaces and abandoned construction sites. Yet with the fall of
Communism, these socialized public and communalized private domains have
largely disappeared. New capitalist spaces have claimed various remnants of
the slain state monster, whose total domination over space has been replaced
by contested territories with artificial borders. The artists in this show
reflect on current modes of domination in the post-Soviet region and point
to cases of shifting political alliances and control as well as the
competition over space that has become standard practice in the current
stage of postcommunist capitalism.
Anatoly Osmolovsky's performances in Moscow comment on shifting symbolic
meanings associated with historically and ideologically charged sites, such
as prominent monuments like Red Square and the Russian Parliament. By
organizing demonstrations and political performances in the streets of
Novosibirsk and Kyiv, respectively, the collectives CAT and REP reclaim
public spaces, capturing these "private-public sites" for a brief moment and
using them as tactical terrain. The photographs of Gulnara Kasmalieva and
Muratbek Djoumaliev reveal tensions characteristic of Central Asian sites
that have been reappropriated either by capitalist enterprise or by the new
state power. As a result of an unprecedented process of privatization,
relations between public and private spaces have changed dramatically,
reflecting the new cultural standards of Russia's capitalism. Dmitry
Vilensky and Chto Delat undertake in-depth investigations of these new modes
of public space in St. Petersburg as well as the social production that
occurs within their bounds.
©СЦСИ 2001-2002
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