EDUCATION:

• 2004-2008  — Tver Art College named after A.G. Venetsianov. Specialty-painter-teacher
• 2010-2016  — St. Petersburg Art and Industry Academy Stieglitz. Specialty - artist-ceramist
• 2021-2022  — MMOMA Free Workshops, sculpture and installation

PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS:

• 2022  — "When I Grow Become a Tree" "Open Workshops", Ligovskaya Library, Russia, St. Petersburg
• 2021  — "Project ears" Space "Sklad 17". Russia, St. Petersburg
• 2021 — Exhibition "Naked Senses" in my room. Russia, Saint Petersburg
• 2021  — Participatory project at the Krupskaya Cultural Center "I See You"

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

• 2022  — a—s—t—r—a open.vol. 2, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Winzavod, Moscow
• 2022  — MMOMA Gogolevsky 10 "The Future is Already", Exhibition of graduates of the free workshops of MMOMA, installation "Paradise" Russia, Moscow.
• 2022  — Gallery "Bogorodskoye", "Cultural Layer", project "City Hears" Russia, Moscow.
• 2022  — CTE "Fabrika" exhibition "Adaptants", installation "Rebirth", "Diary" objects
• 2022  — Museum "Battle of Borodino Panorama" exhibition "Imaginary Journey", installation "From a Clean Page
• 2022  — Exhibition Halls of Moscow, Gallery "Belyaevo installation "Contact" and object "When I Grow, I Will Become a Tree
• 2022  — Gallery "At the Plant" Group exhibition of students of MMOMA "C-41 process
  Installation "When I Grow Become a Tree". Russia, Moscow
• 2021  — Kvadrat Youth Center. Samizdat festival "On Paper". Russia, St.
  Petersburg
• 2021  — Exhibition of teachers and graduates in Stieglitz St. Petersburg State Academy of Arts and Industry "One Square Metre". Russia, St. Petersburg
• 2021  — Installation "Secrets" for the Biennale Krasnyaya. Russia, Saint Petersburg
• 2021  — Exhibition "Garden", installation "Subconsciousness" Russia, Moscow
• 2021  — Exhibition "New Energies" at the Gamma Art Cluster, Russia, Moscow
• 2020  — Online exhibition "Ceramics on the Grass". Russia, St. Petersburg
• 2019  — Installation for the festival "4ceramics" Russia, Moscow
• 2018  — Ceramania Ceramics Festival Russia, St. Petersburg
• 2016  — Exhibition at the Stieglitz Stieglitz St. Petersburg State Academy of Arts and Industry. "Dialogues". Russia, St. Petersburg
• 2014  — Exhibition of ceramics and graphics at ArtGogolev Center. Russia, Sortavala
• 2012  — Exhibition at Stieglitz Stieglitz Art Museum "Solovki". Russia, St. Petersburg

ART RESIDENCIES:

• 2020  — Get Art Fit, Online Residency
• 2016  — High Fire Symposium in Gavrilov Yama, Russia
• 2015  — High Fire Symposium in Gavrilov Yama, Russia
• 2012  — Gas Firing in Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry,  Moscow, Russia
• 2011  — High Fire Ceramic Symposium, Latvian Academy of Arts. Riga.
  Latvia

CONTACT PROJECT, 2022

"Connections are fragile and subtle, so very valuable. Without people and support, one survives, not lives. Now, when society is divided because of divergent views, it is difficult to be with those who think differently, you want to cut ties, you are afraid to create new ones. But at the same time, the connections with those people who are "in the same boat" with me have lit up and become even more important. Their support and understanding are incredible. Ties are like threads - very easy to break, but with this work I want to encourage you to protect them by being attentive to one another. One person can do a lot. And together, people can move mountains! Together we can create this world and the future, individuals coming together is a tremendous force."

Oksana Afanasieva

Darina Grekhova is an artist from Moscow.  A cultural critic by training, she has worked in the cultural sphere for several years. In 2022 she enrolled at BVShD and started her artistic practice.

EDUCATION:

• 2022-24 — Illustration (British Higher School of Design)
• 2019-20 — Art Criticism Lab (Baza Institute)
• 2017-19 — Visual Culture (Higher School of Economics)
• 2012-16 — Cultural Studies. Culture of Western Europe (Russian State University of Fine Arts)

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

• 2024 — a—s—t—r—a оpen call vol.6, curated by Svetlana Taylor, a—s—t—r—a
• 2024 — “And here I am”, Omelchenko gallery. Curators: Tanya Ivankova, Anya Zhuravleva
• 2024 — “How are you? How am I?”, U contemporary gallery. Curators: Tanya Ivankova, Olya Makhno
• 2023 — Mural for Artplay center. Art director of the project Ilya Kutoboy
• 2023 — “Hung the earth on nothing”, BIS ART GALLERY. Project director Masha Shishova

“I am engaged in figurative painting and hand drawing. Before my artistic practice I studied visual culture and art criticism, I was especially interested in modern theories of perception and image theory, which strongly influenced my artistic methodology of work. For me, creating work is a search for a “strong” image as an allegory to something elusive and free to be interpreted. The impetus for the search for figurative expression I most often find in fiction or theoretical literature, somehow it is usually a redefined experience or external event that seems familiar to me for no apparent reason. Such an event reminds me of a displacement in space that I seek to memorize through the creation of visual work.”

Darina Grekhova

She is a student of the Institute of Modern Art I. Bakstein. She graduated from the Repin Academy of Arts (muralist). In her artistic practice she explores issues of cultural memory, focusing on themes of personal and collective identity, which are transformed and adapted under the influence of the contemporary world.

EDUCATION:

• 2014 - 2020 — St. Petersburg Repin Academy of Arts, faculty of monumental painting
• 2014 - 2009 — University of Design and Fine Arts, Faculty of Ceramic Arts

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

• 2024 — a—s—t—r—a open call vol.6, Moscow, a—s—t—r—a gallery, curated by Svetlana Taylor
• 2024 — Catalog, Moscow
• 2024 — Mora Museum of Modern Art, New Jersey
• 2024 — Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art “Generating the Art of the Future”
• 2024 — “Youth of St. Petersburg” St. Petersburg Union of Artists
• 2024 — TAVRIDA, “Art.Molodost” Fair, Sudak
• 2024 — Gostiny Dvor “Art Russia fair 2024”, Moscow
• 2023 — Tretyakov Gallery “Time Forward”, Moscow
• 2023 — Gostiny Dvor “Art Russia fair 2023”, Moscow
• 2023 — Artseeker “Just summer on my mind”, Miami
• 2023 — CSI Creador “And I, like Frida”, Moscow
• 2021 — Sevkabel Port “Exhibition of contemporary art”, St. Petersburg

“I explore themes, ideas and feelings that are fundamental to human consciousness but are undergoing changes in the new reality. The modern world is rapidly changing under the influence of digital technology, affecting each individual's personality and society as a whole. My art aims to explore how our consciousness is transformed in the face of high speeds and the uninterrupted flow of information. I reimagine the age of new technologies by working with digital artifacts and computer graphics aesthetics. My theoretical framework is metamodernism. I focus on exploring human adaptation to new conditions of existence and how traditional art forms can be actualized in the context of the digital age. In my practice, I strive to create a dialog between past and present, exploring how historical memory can coexist with contemporary experience. My art serves as a support for the formation of a new culture and for understanding and internalizing our new reality. I believe in the power of art to transform an elusive modernity into a new classic. As an artist, I explore the process of its formation by analyzing how human perception changes in the face of constant reassembly of information.”

Lilia Kovalevskaya

Born in Moscow. Studied at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.
She studied at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in art history and painting (2007-2014), . From 2011 to 2018 studied at independent art schools on courses in painting and sculpture at START, MHPI, SHAR (2011 - 2018) also took courses at the Moscow Institute of Architecture. In 2018 moved to Paris to study at the Beaux art de Paris Institute , but after a year she decided to return to Russia.

EDUCATION:

• 2020 - 2021 — British Higher School of Design - Department of Jewelry Production Technology
• 2017 - 2018 — College of Architecture, Design and Re-engineering - Stone Restoration and Woodworking Technology
• 2017 - 2018 — MARHI

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

• 2024 — Open call vol.6, Moscow, a—s—t—r—a gallery, curated by Svetlana Taylor
• 2024 — Angela v dorogu, Paris
• 2023 — IV, Anas Kari gallery, Tbilisi
• 2023 — Once under the same sky sat you I bull - a bird flew, Lingua Latina gallery, Moscow

“TUTCAMEM is a place I describe as a sad temple and a tragic circus, objects, paintings, sculptures , whatever is done under this name is an attempt to take thoughts and images away from myself, capture them outside of myself and tie a knot in time. I don't focus on a particular material or technique, I like to explore my own
possibilities and with that push the boundaries of what is allowed in art. When working, I try to immerse myself in a subject, material or style to make the process more interesting. I like to think about how freedom is born in a state of limitation.” 

Taisia Pastukhova

Olga Sorokina is an artist who prefers the mediums of painting and drawing. She is a member of the self-organization “Community 22”. She lives and works in Moscow and London.

EDUCATION:

• 2023-2025 — Arseny Zhilyaev Workshop
• 2023-2024 — Tsvetnik School of Contemporary Art (TSCA)
• 2023 — Painting Workshop of Taisiya Korotkova
• 2021-2022 — Concept Online School of Contemporary Art. Mika Plutitskaya's painting workshop and Alek Petuk's performance workshop

PERFORMANCES:

• 2024 — “Plant Thinking”. Borovsky Center for Contemporary Art. Moscow
• 2021 — “Scandal”. MMOMA. Moscow
• 2021 — “Scandal-2”. DK Rosa. St. Petersburg

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

• 2025 — “The Assembly House Summer Open Exhibition”. The Assembly House. Norwich
• 2025 — “Closer to the Water”. Arbuzz gallery. Moscow
• 2025 — “EIDOS - THE SHAPE OF THOSE WITH NO SHAPE”. INDRA GALLERY. London
• 2025 — “The jar is more beautiful than me”. Space 37A. Moscow
• 2025 — a—s—t—r—a open vol.6”. Gallery a—s—t—r—a. Moscow
• 2024 — “Dandelion strategy”. TSCA. Moscow
• 2024 — “SQUEEZE”. TSCA. Moscow
• 2024 — “Video-specific ability to give hope”. TSCA. Moscow
• 2023 — “The curve of forgetting”. Zverev Center. Moscow
• 2023 — “Inner Mongolia”. Arbuzz gallery. Moscow
• 2023 — “Under the Closer on the Hanger”. Gallery 22. London
• 2023 — “Between an Anthropomorphic Bird and a Bird-like ManFluid”. NNC. London
• 2022 — “The Mood of a Traveler”. Damirov Gallery. Moscow
• 2022 — “Non-Randomness”. Gallery “Glubina”. Moscow
• 2022 — “Obsession”. Artservatory. Khabarovsk
• 2021 — “See the Results”. Gallery Kunsthalle No 7. St. Petersburg

“In my practice I address themes of the relationship between the individual and collective forces, identity and new ritualization. Another important theme in my work is corporeality and how cultural and social context influences the perception of the body.”

Olga Sorokina

Born on June 29, 1988 in St. Petersburg. 

Studied art, philosophy, poetry and literature, as a free-lance student attended courses at the Repin Academy. Repin. Studied at the Yalta Art School. Participant of Russian and international exhibitions and residencies. Doeshvili's works are in private collections in Russia, Ukraine, USA, Australia, England, Germany, Czech Republic. Since 2022 he has been living and working in Moscow.

Kirill sees his art through the eye, which does not obey the man-made laws of perspective, striving to cognize each object through the adventure of perception. Drawing itself turns for him into an interlocutor or a stranger, with whom he begins to juggle images. Each work is a new situation in which events unfold dynamically, but all of them are simultaneously connected by a common logic and characters: Treschak the Unpunished, the Friendly Pirate, the Strolling Apollo, the Unscientific Chatterbox.  There is no bad or good among them. They are all embraced by the flame of love, but don't know how to express it properly. Just like us.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

• 2023 — Fair |catalog|, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
• 2023 — Blazar, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
• 2022 — Juice from stone and earth, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Winzavod, Moscow
• 2022 — a—s—t—r—a open.vol. 2, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Winzavod, Moscow
• 2020 — Art Residence “Yuzhny Bereg” theme: “Mystery”.
• 2020 — Participant of the project NEW REALITY. FOR THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF UNOVIS
• 2020 — Art Forum Berlin Art
• 2020 — Exhibition of Expressionism, Gostiny Dvor
• 2020 — Creating psychedelic objects at the Sunburn art festival Goa, India
• 2019 — South Coast Art Residence
• 2018 — Art festival “Colors of the World” Koktebel
• 2017 — Creation and art design, “Extreme festival”
• 2016 — “Tavrida”

"An instinctive Faith in the art form, a symbiosis of inner and outer journeys, signs on the way to advancement in art. Without thinking that death is near, I am constantly trying to comprehend the emptiness of all forms that distort and reshape, have their own magnitude and even a formal notion of time. When one painstakingly draws or writes, one has two types of signs of progress along the path - definite and indefinite - which show that the result will soon be achieved. The indefinite signs, called basic signs, appear due to previous connections, even if the person has never practiced art at all . Since they cannot be relied upon, I will not describe them here. Definite marks appear as a result of drawing and are of two kinds: transitory and immutable. Transient signs may appear either in reality or in mood. As for the first kind, when you are making preliminary sketches, you may feel as if your body is about to collapse like the walls of a cracking house. Your voice may weaken, as in a state of extreme exhaustion. You may begin to convulse like you are possessed by spirits. These are indicators that you have separated reality and the world of images. Frustration with your own body, speech, and mind may appear in the mood. This demonstrates that you have purified yourself . If these states do not appear, it means that you have not gained enough experience, so you must continue to immerse yourself in the form."

Kirill Doeshvili

Kirill Doeshvili, cover of RBC Style, March 2024

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• RBC Style - “I'm Telling You About Love”: the new issue of RBC Style has been released
• BURO. - Mythology, ceramics and SEALs: what to see at a-s-t-r-a gallery
• Cabinet de l'Art - Art review 19.01-26.01.23
• mydecor - “Juice from Stone and Earth” exhibition at a-s-t-r-a gallery
• Playbill Daily - “I create my works at night”: artist Kirill Doeshvili about his fictional world
• Snob - 5 works by artist Kirill Doeshvili in the “Art.Act” project
• Playbill - What to see at the new contemporary art fair |catalog|

Born in Moscow in 1971.

Daria Krotova was educated as a psychologist and art historian while studying at universities in Russia, America and France.  For several years she was engaged in translations into Russian of French poetry and philosophy (Francis Ponge, Maurice Blanchot, Gilles Deleuze, etc. Published in Moscow).

The first upsurge of her artistic career in contemporary art began in the late 2000s with the exhibition “Invasion /Évasion” of the Maria Baibakova Foundation at Krasny Oktyabr, where her first large installations were presented with the use of ceramics, which the artist considers as a universal medium for works of any format. From this period she began to actively participate in the activities of the creative association VGLAZ, founded by Gosha Ostretsov, as well as with leading Moscow galleries: Iragui Gallery, Crokin Gallery, and later with Heritage Gallery.

In her works, which are often large format in-situ installations, Daria works in various media (ceramics, wood, textiles, ready made) but is known for her large format works in paper, for which the artist has invented her own unique technique. In 2014 and 2016 her huge installations in this technique were shown at the Winzavod CSI, and in 2018 at the Fabrika CSI. 

 

Since 2008, Daria's artistic career has included participation in more than 70 exhibitions in Russia and abroad, including 20 solo exhibitions, as well as regular participation in international fairs and biennales of contemporary art (Art Pris, Vienna Contemporary, Tbilissi Art fair, Art Vilnius, Lucca biennale Cartasia etc).  

From 2014 to 2019 Daria devoted her time to working at the Tretyakov Gallery, where in addition to teaching sculpture, she curated exhibitions and developed inclusion at the museum.  

Since 2019, the artist has returned to active creative work, still favoring ceramic sculpture, multimedia installations and land art. Since 2019, working extensively in the South of France, Daria has been creating a number of major land art projects, and including the installation Waiting to Return, 2024, dedicated to Ilya Kabakov.

In 2024, Daria's work participates in the historic Biennale of Contemporary Ceramic Art in Valoris. Since 2024 Daria started experimenting with different printmaking techniques, linocut, lithography, silkscreen. The series “Memes” (fabric, image transfer paper, printing, hand embroidery) was made for the exhibition Renaissance, curated by Gosha Ostretsov. Daria works with the idea of visual profanations, distortions and layering that images of classical painting are subjected to in social media and masmedia.

The series of works entitled “Circles on the Asphalt”, presented at the exhibition of the same name in the a—s—t—r—a gallery, is made in the workshops of the Center for Art Production “Vaults” of the House of Culture “HPP-2”. 

In 2025, exhibitions featuring works by Daria Krotova will be held at the Villa Datris Foundation for Contemporary Sculpture, the Chateau Seviere Museum in Marseille, the See Gallery in Paris, and the Albatros Art Center in Paris. Collaboration is planned with the Lazarev Gallery in Paris and the Yvon Lambert Foundation in Avignon. 

Alexander was born in 1982 in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod).

Graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Art College (2004), the Faculty of Painting of the V.I. Surikov Moscow State Art Institute in the workshop of theatrical and decorative art (2010), as well as the creative workshop of theatrical and decorative art under the guidance of M.M. Kurilko-Ryumin. Since 2013, he has been teaching painting and composition at the V.I. Surikov Moscow State Art Institute. In 2017 he underwent an internship at Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli (Naples, Italy). Since 2016, Alexander has been a member of the Moscow Union of Artists (MOSKh), and since 2019 he has been a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts.

Alexander Kupalyan works in the field of monumental art and creation of murals. Large-scale and expressive works, placed by the artist in urban space, inevitably capture the viewer's attention and provoke public discussions on acutely relevant topics of modernity.

Alexander's work is a resonant artistic statement, which is a distinctive synthesis of academic traditions and bold visual solutions. The artist himself assesses his task as follows: to create something significant, not to stop at what has been achieved and to try to change the world around him.

Alexander also actively participates in theater and opera productions as a scenographer. Among his works: opera “Iolanta” (Helikon Opera, 2019), “Oprichnik” (Mikhailovsky Theater, 2021), “Onegin” (Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after A.S. Pushkin, 2023) and others.

Currently lives and works in Moscow.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

• 2024 — “The Yellow Notebook”, solo exhibition, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow 
• 2021 —  “To Adam's Children”, solo exhibition, Sevkabel Port, St. Petersburg
• 2020 —  “OPTIMISTIC TRAGEDY”, group exhibition, VS unio gallery, Moscow
• 2019 —  “Noems”, group exhibition, Nizhny Novgorod State Exhibition Complex, Nizhny Novgorod
• 2018 —  “Return to the Masterpiece”, solo exhibition, VS unio gallery, Moscow
• 2017 —  “Silk Road”, group exhibition, Russian Academy of Arts, Moscow
• 2012 —  “Cinema-theater palette. Young artists”, Nagornaya Gallery, Moscow
• 2012 —  “Theater”, group exhibition, Maly Manezh, Moscow
• 2011 —  “Heirs of Great Masters”, Russian Academy of Arts, Moscow

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• Cabinet de l'art - Alexander Kupalyan: “Return to the Masterpiece”
• Snob - Real Painting by Alexander Kupalyan
• Dog.ru - Sasha Kupalyan
• BURO. - Artist Sasha Kupalyan has installed an art object at the entrance to the New Tretyakovka on Krymsky Val.
• marie claire - Alexander Kupalyan: what you need to know about the Russian artist
• Dog.ru - “Reading the kokoshnik”. Nizhny Novgorod “Boyarynya” in Sochi: what?

Born in 1987 in Kopeysk, Chelyabinsk region. 

Graduated from the Chelyabinsk Art College (2007) and the graphic arts department (studio of Andrei Alekseevich Pakhomov) of the Repin St. Petersburg State Art Academy (2014). From 2014 to 2017 he trained in the creative workshops of the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. During his studies he participated in exhibitions and competitions in Russia, Korea and China, cooperated with GOZNAK (Mint). Pavel's works are in the collections of the Fabergé Museum, BREUS Foundation, private collection of the head of the House of Guerlain, as well as in private collections of many countries, including Russia, France, Korea, USA and China.

In his works, Pavel captures the process of internal metamorphosis that takes place within a person while experiencing something that comes from the outside. Having received an academic art education, Paul continues to develop in various contemporary media, experimenting with artistic languages, however a large portion of his visual practice is black and white graphics. In his work, the artist often collides academic drawing with contemporary trends, exploring the boundaries of normality and subjectivity, reality and mysticism. 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS:

• 2024 — KONTUR Graphics Fair, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Nizhny Novgorod
• 2023 — Fair |catalog|, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
• 2023 — St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg
• 2023 — KONTUR Graphics Fair, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Nizhny Novgorod
• 2023 — Quiet Move. (Un)obvious art scene of St. Petersburg, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Winzavod, Moscow
• 2022 — blazar young art fair, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
• 2022 — Cosmoscow art fair, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
• 2022 — a-s-t-r-a Open.Vol 1, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Winzavod, Moscow
• 2022 — St. Petersburg art fair “1703”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg.
• 2022 — Collective self-fulfilling prophecy about our beautiful tomorrow, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Vinzavod, Moscow
• 2022 — Art Moscow program within the 48th Russian Atiquarian Salon, a—s—t—r—a gallery. Gostiny Dvor, Moscow
•  2021 — Group exhibition “12345 I go looking”, St. Petersburg, Russia
•  2021 — Cosmoscow art fair, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
•  2021 — Blazar, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
• 2021 — Art Moscow program within the framework of the 46th Russian antique salon, a-s-t-r-a gallery. Gostiny Dvor, Moscow
• 2021 — “Russian Shield”, St. Petersburg, Russia 
• 2020 — Cosmoscow art fair, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2019 — Art Event Suspense. Brakgausen Mansion, St. Petersburg, Russia *
• 2019 — ART Event Suspense.
• 2019 — ART Event Suspense 2.0. Port Sevkabel, St. Petersburg
• 2018 — Intervention. Hermitage Museum, Main Staff, St. Petersburg
• 2018 — International Fifth Biennial of Graphic Arts. Romania
• 2012 — International Art Exhibition. Beijing, China
• 2011 — 1st place in the competition for the design of the Olympic banknote
• 2010 — International Art Exhibition. Seoul, Korea

“Creativity must always be sincere in order to find its audience. Creativity is a constant search for its sides. It is the pleasure of discovery. It is the continuous dissatisfaction with what has already been done, as a sign that one must move on. 

Deformation (from Latin Deformatio - “distortion”) is a change in the mutual position of body particles, associated with their movement relative to each other. This series presents the deep deformations occurring inside a person. Perceptions of events, experiences and thoughts, as well as external factors pass through us, distorting the cognitive shell. The deformation is the fixation of these perceptions.”

Pavel Bushuev

FAVORITE PUBLICATIONS:

• Playbill - What to watch at the new contemporary art fair |catalog|
• Moscow Online - The a-s-t-r-a gallery hosted the opening of the group exhibition “Quiet Move. (Not) obvious art scene of St. Petersburg”
• Afisha Daily - Which exhibitions are worth going to in April 2023?
• Zhara Media - Pavel Bushuyev: “Being an artist is not a job, but rather a way of life”
• Buro. - “The Great Emptiness” and “Sunset in a Hundred and Forty Suns”: exhibitions visited in the past year and planned to see in 2024

Born in 1997 in St. Petersburg, where he currently lives and works.
Graduated from St. Petersburg Repin Academy of Arts, Faculty of Theory and History of Art (2022).

The author interacts with the artistic heritage of the past, occasionally borrowing some artistic techniques, and then transforming them into something closer to him. Egor is often inspired by the thinking of neural networks, sometimes completely unpredictable. Each work of the artist is multi-layered. It begins with a tonal substrate created using various pigments, solvents and inks, after which traditional materials such as watercolor, pastels and others are added.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

• 2019 — (Non)Perfect Forms, FossArt Gallery, St. Petersburg
• 2019 — Reflections on Form, GB Gallery, St. Petersburg

GROUP PROJECTS:

• 2024 — blazar, , a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
• 2024 — St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”,, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg
• 2024 — KONTUR Graphics Fair, , a—s—t—r—a gallery, Nizhny Novgorod
• 2024 — a—s—t—r—a open.vol. 4, , a—s—t—r—a  gallery, Winzavod, Moscow

“I call my work interdisciplinary research. Being both an artist and an art historian, I play several roles at once. This allows me to occupy a kind of middle ground between a philosopher and a creator of the material. Since childhood I have been attracted and mesmerized by the art of the past, including Christian art. It is in biblical motifs that I have always felt some special aesthetics, energy that is very close to me. 
I have always been drawn to research. And my own art for me is always research, discovery, it is always global reflections on culture, philosophy, life as such. 
Inspired by the art of the past, I have created a special visual language. It is multifaceted, it is unique. There are many rules within it, there are certain constructions, schemes. However, I am the only one who knows about their existence. The viewer, perceiving, “listening” to my language, always finds his own meanings, translations, “transcriptions”.
Creating a full-fledged universe within my own work has always been and remains a very special task for me. The most important goal for me is to mystify and mythologize the content of my pictorial universe. 
For me, every work, every graphic sheet is always a portal to another world, it is always a genuine artifact. If a work can be perceived as an artifact, then it is a good work. And I strive for my work to be good.”

Egor Voskresensky

St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg

ABOUT THE ANTIQUITAS PROJECT:

“The ANTIQUITAS project is not a reconstruction, but a reflection. Instead of a dry reproduction of canons, I offer the viewer a game with deceptions and allusions. My project is a time machine that works both ways. I dive into the depths of the past to return with trophies marked with the seal of Chronos. These “artifacts” are not so much evidence of an era as they are symbolic distortions, visual paradoxes. “Pompeian” frescoes come to life in graphics on paper, marble turns out to be bread, bas-reliefs appear on aged wood. Using a variety of mediums, I create the illusion of authenticity while emphasizing the fragility and changeability of memory. It is important for me not just to quote antiquity, but to create an antiquity of my own, an authorial antiquity, where time is not a linear process, but a powerful force that deforms, rethinks and inspires. My project is about how the past shapes the present and how we, in turn, rewrite history. It is a reflection on the nature of time, its ability to simultaneously destroy and create, to blur the boundaries between the authentic and the imaginary. I am creating my own universe in which the past is not a frozen monument, but a living, pulsating organism subject to constant transformation. Time... Time charred. Time distorts. Time disfigures. Time confuses. Time rethinks. Time puts things in their proper place. Time inspires.”

Egor Voskresensky

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

•  Artguide - Year three: the results of the art fair 1703
•  Forbes - Results of St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”
•  BURO - Social Art, Dreams and Mountains: Where to Go and What to See in Museums in February
•  Art Flash - Group project a-s-t-r-a OPEN vol.4. A Fresh Look at Contemporary Art
•  INTERIOR+DESIGN - New names in the fourth edition of the Open project at a-s-t-r-a gallery.
•  NOW - What to do this weekend: January 27-28
• MOSCOW24 - Project a-s-t-r-a OPEN vol.4 started at Winzavod
• BURO - A-s-t-r-a OPEN vol.4 group project opened at Winzavod
• Playbill - a-s-t-r-a open vol.4

Born in 1990 in St. Petersburg.

Russian artist, teacher of drawing and silkscreening printing at the Ilya Repin Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. Creates his works in printing techniques such as lithography and silkscreen.  Along with large format works and contemporary materials.

The artist dedicates his work to the human body in all its manifestations and forms. And if there is a body, there is also a soul, thought, consciousness and subconsciousness, about which one can endlessly talk and think. His works embody the complexity of the human soul, its metamorphosis and interaction with the surrounding space, as well as its boundless loneliness. Curved, tense bodies are often contrasted and connected to absolute all-consuming darkness, which vividly contrasts with the whiteness of the background.

EDUCATION:

• 2007 - 2012 — Nizhny Novgorod Art School (artist - painter)
• 2012 - 2018 — St. Petersburg Ilya Repin Academy of Arts (graphic artist)
• 2018 - 2023 — Assistantship at the St. Petersburg Ilya Repin Academy of Arts

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

• 2024 — Blazar, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
• 2024 — St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg
• 2024 — KONTUR Graphics Fair, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Nizhny Novgorod
• 2024 — a—s—t—r—a open.vol. 4, a—s—t—r—a gallery, CSI Winzavod - Moscow
• 2019 — Laureate of the competition and participant of the exhibition "Nature Class", Museum and Exhibition Center "St. Petersburg Artist", St. Petersburg
• 2018 — International exhibition "Russia Italy", Rome, Italy
• 2018 — International exhibition "Russia Italy. Raphael Hall of the Repin Museum of the Academy of Arts, St. Petersburg, Russia
• 2018 — International exhibition "Overcoming",  Manezh, St. Petersburg
• 2016 — Laureate of the Internet contest "Igor Minakov Prize" "Love Will Save the World" in the nomination "Graphics"
• 2015 - 2016 — International exhibition IV GABALA International Art Exhibition "SPORTS! BEAUTY! LIFE!", Gabala, Azerbaijan
• 2015 — Exhibition "St. Petersburg in the Space of World Culture", Exhibition Hall of the Union of Artists, St. Petersburg, Russia
• 2015 — Laureate of the IX exhibition "Youth of St. Petersburg" in the nomination "Graphics", St. Petersburg
• 2015 — Exhibition "Essay on the Body" as part of the 25th Festival of Documentary Films "Message to Man", Open Film Studio "Lendok", St. Petersburg
• 2015 — International exhibition "THE SENSE OF THE BODY", First International Festival of Schools of Art and Design, Italy

Exhibition a—s—t—r—a open.vol. 4, a—s—t—r—a gallery, CSI Winzavod, Moscow

Rinat Mustafin was born in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Region, in 1991.

In Moscow he received a higher education in the specialty of Architect. Since 2011 is engaged in artistic practices in the field of modern art, combining with with projects in the field of curatorship, scenography, architecture and design. In 2020, together with the team of the creative association WIP, he opened an experimental gallery, where he took the position of chief curator.

His works are a part of the collections of the Nakovalnya Gallery Foundation, the private collection of artist Aidan Salakhova.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

• 2024 — Entropie des menages, L galerie Paris, Париж
• 2023 — "Territory", Cube Gallery, Moscow
• 2022 — "Zenith", Anvil Gallery, Moscow
• 2022 — Performance "Shell", Mutabor club, Moscow
• 2022 — Performance "Shell", WIP Gallery, Moscow
• 2021 — "Forma", Kommunalka Gallery, Moscow
• 2021 — Vdeo art installation "Rain", WIP gallery, Moscow.
• 2021 — Abstract Meanings in Visual Forms, WIP Gallery, Moscow

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

• 2024 — Fair |catalog| December, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — Fair blazar, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia 
• 2024 — Shimmering, Art&Brut, Moscow
• 2024 — a—s—t—r—a open.vol. 4, a—s—t—r—a gallery, CSI Winzavod, Moscow
• 2023 — "Loading", Art Kvartal, Erevan
• 2023 — "Rinat & Segotchka", Object Gallery, Tbilisi
• 2019 — "Good Weather", Užupio Meno Incubatorius, Vilnius
• 2016 — "Alternative Theories of Evolution", Dravidian Museum, Moscow

"I believe in perfect form, colour and composition. The silent power of visual art leaves me in awe, and the emergence of ever new media and tools makes me mesmerised by the vividness of the visual world. In my works I explore: the relationship between new and old technologies, in which lies the beauty of human thought, new signs and symbols that replace the old without changing their nature, themes of humanism and anti-humanism. Based on the experience, principles and discoveries of modernists and postmodernists of the 20th century, I try to use new approaches and develop original techniques. I do not see myself outside the context of my time. I am in love with the era I'm living in."

Rinat Mustafin

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• Playbill - Rinat Mustafin. Zenith
• Cube - Rinat Mustafin's solo exhibition “Territory”, 159F Gallerie
• Anvil - “Zenit” - Rinat Mustafin's solo exhibition
• Interior + Design - Rinat Mustafin's exhibition at Anvil Gallery
• ArtTube - Rinat Mustafin “Zenith”
• ARTvoda - Rinat Mustafin
• Raan - Rinat Mustafin
• Design District DAA - Exhibition “How long ago, dear friend?” in Abramova Gallery
• Gallery on Kashirka - Questions of Art
• Modern Megapolis - Neuroel desires and digital kokoshnik for Kristina Asmus

Gleb Nestrelyaev was born in Vladivostok in 1995. The author received his first art education in Vladivostok Art College (workshop of Makeev E.E.). Since 2019 he lives and works in St. Petersburg, where since 2020 he has been studying at the Repin Academy of Arts (workshop of H. V. Savkuev).

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

• 2024 — a—s—t—r—a Open.Vol 6,  a—s—t—r—a gallery, Winzavod, Moscow
• 2024 — A familiar tree grows out of the haze, OpenYou Gallery, St. Petersburg
• 2024 — "I am not a robot” Artocratia Gallery, Moscow
• 2024 — Avant-garde: Workshop of the Future, Serpukhov Museum of History and Art, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — All Houses, ETO, House of Culture
• 2024 — Spring - 2024, St. Petersburg Union of Artists
• 2023 — Youth of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg Union of Artists
• 2023 — Ark. Itaian Hall, Academy of Arts
• 2022 — Beehive Fest, Villa Vitali Mansion
• 2022 — Lost?!, MORS Illustration Festival
• 2021 — One Day Today. A Journey, PortArt Gallery
• 2021 — Hive Party, Villa Vitali Mansion
• 2019 — We Are Around Me, FEFU MC Gallery
• 2019 — Molodezhnaya, Primorsky branch of the ARF
• 2019 — Once Upon a Time Today. My Neighbors, FEFU MC Gallery
• 2018 — Dreams, “MC” gallery FEFU
• 2018 — Once Upon a Time Today, FEFU MC Gallery
• 2018 — I've seen it. Summer, FEFU MC Gallery
• 2018 — Lust for Life, Seaside Branch of the ARF

FAIRS:

• 2024 — BLAZAR, Independent Artists Section
• 2024 — PAF:ALL COLORS, Sevkabel Port
• 2024 — 1703, Central Exhibition Hall Manezh, Repin Collection of St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts

“Since childhood I have been attracted to colorful texture on various surfaces, cracked paint on garages or school hallways, old paper and whitewashed walls for the “hundredth time”. The sense of time from these things I try to recreate in my work. I like to observe people, communicate with them, listen to their stories. All my works are about human relationships and the cyclical nature of our history. I like to experiment with materials, often to create the surface I want I have to manipulate the work for a long time: skinning, scratching, painting and stripping the paint layer. In my work I often use mythological elements and natural motifs, personal reflective experiences to create my own stories.”

Gleb Nestrelyaev

Sergey Sonin

Born in Smolensk in 1968. Artist, director, screenwriter, producer. Studied at Semyon Aranovich's workshop for film directing at St. Petersburg State University of Cinema and Television 

Elena Samorodova

Born in Moscow in 1973. Architect, production designer and photographer. Studied at Moscow Art School №1. Graduated from the Moscow Architectural Institute, Experimental Design Group in 1998.

Sergey Sonin and Elena Samorodova (Partnership "Lead and Cobalt") are multimedia artists, working in two capitals: Moscow and St. Petersburg, founders of several art associations. Their works are in the collection of the Museum of Moscow, Krasnoyarsk Museum Center "Peace Square", Multimedia Art Museum and in private collections.

For the last decade and a half, the artists have been continuously experimenting, playing with imaginary reconstructions of the world's cultural and historical present, past and future in their works, filling them with new content. In their mystifications they also refer to time, shortening or prolonging its course, establishing “their” author's perceptions and frameworks.

SELECTED PROJECTS:

• 2024 — “Utopia and Uchronia”, personal project, MMOMA Museum, Gogolevsky b-р. 10/2 , Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — Fair |catalog| December, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg, Russia
• 2024 — KONTUR Graphics Fair, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
• 2024 — 1st GRAUND Biennale “Textile in Contemporary Art”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, GRAUND Solyanka, Moscow
• 2023 — St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg
• 2023 — “Utopia and Uchronia. The Dream of a Landowner of the Middle Strip”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
• 2022 — "Northern Arcadia", solo exhibition, City Sculpture Museum, St. Petersburg.
• 2022 — "Utopia and Uchronia", solo exhibition, Navicula Artis Gallery, St. Petersburg.
• 2019 — "Procession" video premiere, Karo-art, Oktyabr cinema, Moscow
• 2018 — "Razvilka. Personal exhibition, Krokin Gallery, Moscow
• 2016 — "Trapper's Fragment. Russian Stereo". Solo exhibition, Krokin Gallery, Moscow
• 2015 — "Russian Realism XXI century", Museum of Modern History of Russia, Moscow.
• 2015 — "Now&After" video festival.  Film "Egyptian flock".
• 2015 — "Kvadratura", - "Strategic Heritage", Tenishev ECC, Smolensk
• 2015 — auction PIASA. Russian & soviet photographs. "Gogol. Rome. From the Third to the First", Paris
• 2015 — "Enrichment of Reality", - "Strategic Heritage", A3 Gallery, Moscow
• 2015 — "Victory as a new epic", - "Strategic Heritage", Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery, Moscow
• 2014 — "Gogol. Rome. From the Third to the First", Museum of Moscow. Personal exhibition
• 2013 — "Egyptian flock", Krasnoyarsk Museum Center, personal exhibition, Krasnoyarsk
• 2013 — "Shelter for Sniper", Transatlantic Gallery, Moscow, Parallel program of the 5th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Solo exhibition
• 2013 — "Strategic Heritage", Polytechnic Museum, Moscow. Solo exhibition
• 2012 — "Hot Cold. Loft Floors, St. Petersburg
• 2012 — "Egyptian Pack. Part 1", gallery POBEDA, Moscow. Solo exhibition
• 2010 — "Divine Wind", Marble Palace, St. Petersburg
• 2009 — Exhibition "Divine Wind", Museum of Modern Art, Moscow
• 2007 — "Generals of the 70s", Yakut Gallery, Moscow
• 2005 — "Generals of the 70s", Festival "Fashion and Style in Photography", Moscow

“The universe of Elena Samorodova and Sergey Sonin is a “Russian invisible Empire”, either a post-apocalyptic world or a parallel reality, fixed in aesthetically perfect video frescoes and artifacts, such as, for example, stove tiles, which make us believe that all this happened in reality. The ordinary viewer risks getting lost in these quantum movements and, waving his hand, giving himself over to emotional and aesthetic experiences, but now we have the opportunity to talk to the authors and untangle this tangle of meanings.”

Quoted from the article “Elena Samorodova, Sergey Sonin: Over the Russian Void, through Russian Zen”

The project "Utopia and Uchronia. Dream of a Landowner of the Middle Strip"  was represented by a—s—t—r—a gallery in 2023.

“The exhibition-installation, to be more precise-a visionary interdisciplinary performance of 'Utopia and Uchronia. The dream of a middle-class landowner” is one of the variants of the embodiment of the large project of the Partnership ‘Lead and Cobalt’. It is dedicated to the Indian campaign (the turn of the 18th-19th centuries) of Emperor Paul I and Napoleon Bonaparte (then First Consul of France, and soon, in 1804, crowned Emperor of all Frenchmen).  This campaign and alliance of the two emperors almost failed to materialize in 1801. Only the assassination of Paul (in our usual linear history) stopped the advance of Russian troops towards India and put an end to the Russian-French rapprochement aimed at destroying the British dominance in the world economy and politics of the 18th-19th centuries. In the space of the project “Preparing for the Indian Campaign” the fate of the sovereign Paul the First was quite different, and the villainous conspiracy suffered a complete fiasco.”

Ivan Chechot

Exhibition “Utopia and Uchronia. Dream of a Landowner of the Middle Strip”, 2023, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• Artguide - Year Three: the results of the 1703 art fair
• Forbes - Results of St. Petersburg art fair “1703”
• Snob - “Art owes no one anything”. A conversation between gallery owner Alina Kryukova and art historian Ivan Chechot
• BURO - New exhibitions in “HES-2”, MMOMA, “Zotov”: where to go and what to see in museums in May
• ART Knot - “I want to escape from the leveling and simplified monotony of the modern world's offerings”