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"Portrait of a New Wave Collector" as part of the Biennale of Private Collections of the New Collectors Foundation

July 8 - August 30, 2025

Winzavod Contemporary Art Center

4th Syromyatnichesky st, 1/8, building 9, entrance H8

About the exhibition:

"Portrait of a New Wave Collector" is a group exhibition-research, aiming to introduce new players in the art market, their motivation and strategy in forming collections.

Understanding the difficulties on the way and the prospects that inspire new buyers in this way of investing in culture, will help initiate positive changes in the art market through the program activities of the Gallery Association and analyze new trends in the modern patronage movement.

The exhibition featured collectors from the a-s-t-r-a gallery: Maya Tokareva, Sergey and Nina Galitsky, Beslan Agroba, Daria Nikulina, Zoya Galeeva, Katya Romanova and Vitaly Gevorkyan, Polina Bondareva, Maria Grudina, Elina Tabidze, Igor Garanin, Igor Bolotov, Ekaterina Tokareva, Natalia Tsymbalova, Sergey Alekseev, Konstantin and Alina Kryukov.

The exhibition features three works from each collector: a significant work for the collection or personal history (regardless of the acquisition site); a work recommended for acquisition from the a—s—t—r—a gallery archive and a work by a young artist, selected based on the results of the open call a—s—t—r—a OPEN vol.7. An in-depth interview will be conducted with each collector.

The exhibition is part of the Biennale of Private Collections of the New Collectors Foundation.

The Biennale of Private Collections is a joint statement by leading Russian galleries and cultural institutions working in the field of collecting, and collectors, thanks to whose visionary work the history of art continues to develop.

a—s—t—r—a open is a series of group exhibitions, during which the gallery space becomes a place for institutional debuts, testing of new ideas and a platform for artistic dialogue. Within the framework of this initiative, a—s—t—r—a continues the main line of its activity — discovering new names, experimenting and testing hypotheses. Over the past 6 issues, more than 3.5 thousand applications were sent to the open call from artists aged 13 to 75 from more than 20 countries and 150 cities. The project showed more than 100 artists who had not previously collaborated with the a—s—t—r—a gallery.

642 applications were sent to a—s—t—r—a OPEN vol.7, the longlist included 60 artists, of which the gallery collectors selected 35 participants.

Artists a—s—t—r—a OPEN vol.7:

1. Pavel Belov
⁠2. Sergio Aggrov
3.⁠ ILYAGO
4. Alyosha
5. Edith Nesterenko
6. TRUUE

7. Maxim Lunsky
⁠8. Alisa Valevskaya
⁠9. Ivan Nenashev
⁠10. Natalia Menyakina
11. ⁠Dmitry Kolistratov
⁠12. Elena Treugolka
⁠13. MAR
⁠14. Katya Alagich
15. ⁠Vasily Ivanov
⁠16. Alena Troitskaya
⁠17. Sasha Palm
18. ⁠Marina Baldina
⁠19. Vika Khadanka
⁠20. Anna Dyatlovskaya
21. ⁠Arina Avilova
⁠22. Kira Kostina
23. ⁠Masha Ivanova
⁠24. Alisa Detochkina


⁠Collectors lounge:

1.Alexander Sedelnikov

⁠2. Sasha Slon
⁠3. Anastasia Babynina
⁠4. Lena Troyanskaya
5. ⁠Aya Filinskaya
⁠6. Varvara Grankova
7. ⁠Katerina Serious
8. Dmitry Okulich-Kazarin
9. Viktor Zhdanov
10. Anastasia Trapeznikova
11. Pavel Dibrov

About the Biennale

The Biennale of Private Collections is a joint statement by more than 50 cultural institutions operating in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Apatity, Kazan, Samara, Ufa, Kaluga, Vladivostok, Tomsk and other cities of Russia.

They all talk about “their” collector, significant for them and for the territory in which they are located. Galleries, cultural foundations, art centers, museums of private collections over several months present exhibition, publishing and educational projects in which the collector is defined as an iconic figure for the history of art and the formation of the cultural landscape.

A collector is a guide who connects time with his personal view of art. He preserves the legacy of the past and actualizes it in the present, is able to look into the future, supporting the artists of his time, and outlines the vector of art development for years to come.

Through the projects of the Biennale participants, the viewer will be able to see what is most often hidden from him: the choice of a specific person, the art with which he lives and which reflects both himself and a certain time. And he will definitely be able to understand a little better who a collector is - and how he changes our life, environment and cultural context with his personal choice.

About the Foundation

The New Collectors Foundation was created in 2023 by a group of collectors and cultural experts: Marina Loshak, chief curator of the Joseph Brodsky Museum "One and a Half Rooms", director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (2013-2023), Ekaterina Lapshina, entrepreneur, philanthropist and CEO of ERA Capital, Anton Belov, director of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (2010-2025), Mikhail Kamensky, art critic, CEO of Sotheby's Russia&CIS auction house (2007-2016) and collector Anton Kozlov.

The Foundation is a systemic non-profit platform that establishes relationships between art collectors and key participants in artistic processes.

The Foundation studies and popularizes collecting practices through exhibition, educational and outreach formats, opening up new opportunities for people interested in collecting.

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