About

a—s—t—r—a is a gallery project created by Alina Kryukova, an entrepreneur and researcher, in 2018 to promote art among a new wave of collectors.

a—s—t—r—a is a combination of exhibition and interdisciplinary educational projects aimed at attracting new participants to the art market and restoring patronage as a norm.

Conceived as an entry point for aspiring collectors, a—s—t—r—a operated as an online platform for acquiring affordable professional art throughout 2018, and at the end of 2019, it already represented Russian artists at the international SCOPE fair as part of ART BASEL, MIAMI. In March 2020, it became the first Russian gallery to take part in the Spring/Break ArtShow in New York as part of The Armory Show, and in August 2020, the only Russian gallery to take part in the Enter Art Fair in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Since 2020, it has been an annual participant in the Russian fairs Cosmoscow, blazar, 1703, |catalog| and is an active player in the Russian contemporary art market.

a—s—t—r—a works with established artists with an international career, authors who have received institutional recognition and are in their mid-career, and also introduces new names to the market through the twice-annual exhibition project a—s—t—r—a open.

The gallery is located on the territory of the Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art.

It is a member of the Association of Galleries of Russia.

Alina Kryukova is an entrepreneur, art collector, founder of a—s—t—r—a gallery, co-founder of the contemporary art fair |catalog|; lecturer at Skolkovo, Universal University; member of the Board of the Association of Galleries of Russia, member of the Expert Council of the Agency for Creative Industries.