by Galina Bakinova
“The restrictions faced by Russian art are a beneficial window of opportunity. I am sure that new people and new money will come to the domestic market. After all, even before, our art primarily interested Russian buyers, and now their number will only grow.”
Vadim Lobov (President of the Synergy Corporation, co-founder of the “Art Russia” contemporary art fair)
Optimistic views first
For the past years, Russian contemporary artists have been facing serious challenges in their practice. One such challenge is the ability to exhibit conceptual works in Russia. By understanding the processes occurring inside the country, one can answer the question of why many artists chose emigration as the only way to continue creating. However, there is also a large number of artists who preferred to stay and continue their activity within Russia. Let us try to understand what is happening to contemporary art. Below is an overview of opinions from gallerists and the artists themselves, taken from open sources on the internet. There is Oan interesting article “New Challenges and New Opportunities: Contemporary Russian Art in an Era of Change” on the platform ARTinvestment.RU, in which Vadim Lobov (President of the Synergy Corporation, co-founder of the Art Russia contemporary art fair) answers the question of how the domestic art market will develop: “The restrictions faced by Russian art are a beneficial window of opportunity. I am sure that new people and new money will come to the domestic market. After all, even before, our art primarily interested Russian buyers, and now their number will only grow.” (ARTinvestment.RU)
Such an optimistic view in the first year after February 2022 was characteristic of many gallerists and art professionals. Nevertheless, over time, sentiments have changed. Increasingly, gallerists who continue to work in Russia answer very cautiously when asked what is happening with contemporary art today. For example, in the article “Reaping the Results of an Economic Collapse” for Forbes, many gallerists expressed a significantly less optimistic perspective on the situation. Aleksandr Sharov, owner of 11.12 GALLERY, when asked, “Has new art emerged that reflects today’s situation?” replied: “No, and it will not appear. Those who were capable of creating this new art have left. Those who stayed will not take risks, because these are very turbulent times.” (Forbes.ru)
Sergei Popov, owner of the gallery pop/off/art, states the following in the same article: “It seems to me that in recent months, when numerous restrictions were imposed on museums, galleries found themselves freer in their expressions. In May our gallery presented a very important exhibition not only for us but for the entire public sphere Ivan Novikov’s ‘No’, which can be described as a reaction to the ‘special operation’. But unfortunately, we understand that the limits of freedom are extremely narrow. Therefore, even we are forced to adjust our plans, cancel exhibitions if their content might be perceived as provocative.” (Forbes.ru)
A realistic view of the situation
Marina Loshak, curator, gallerist, art manager, collector, and museum professional, in her interview with Forbes speaks about the necessity of cultural exchange. “It is very bad when culture, no matter how rich and diverse it may be, boils in its own juice. All of this must certainly be interchangeable, mutually influential – it is a single broth, and every ingredient in it is important. This truly changes us and makes us more multidimensional, especially considering that the history of our country and the structure of our country are such that it is culturally extremely diverse. Perhaps, to some extent, this is also salvation –that right now inside there is a great deal of diversity, and this allows us to add other ingredients to this broth. But overall, of course, one cannot feed on oneself all the time – for some time it is possible, but thereafter it brings no benefit at all. This is already being felt, of course.” (Forbes.ru)
Marina Loshak also points to the reorientation of museums toward working with their collections, which contain an enormous diversity of artworks, and which museums will be able to exhibit to audiences for a very long time. (Forbes.ru) This reorientation looks like an internal emigration of art nstitutions in Russia. The Vladey gallery, which continues to operate in Russia, published on its website an article titled “What Will Art Be Like in 2023? Artists of VLADEY Respond” (Vladey.net). The article is interesting because the answers are provided by artists whose works are presented in the gallery. The artists note that contemporary art reflects reality, but at the same time, many of them tend to think that the language of artists is nevertheless changing, with more metaphors appearing. The general mood of the artists – fatalistic.
Here are just a few responses from the authors with their predictions for art in Russia in 2023: “to survive despite all circumstances, to survive and remain humane”, “I do not think about the future; I try to live in the present, looking back at the past as valuable experience”, “the world seems increasingly strange and absurd”, “I hope that everything in the world will improve and art will live an independent, free, and vibrant life”, “I am sure there will be more metaphors now” (Vladey.net).
The main characteristics of contemporary art in Russia today
All these opinions only confirm the general state of contemporary art in Russia today:
– Contemporary art in Russia is becoming neutral in meaning; censorship often comes from the institutions themselves, as a result of their fear of attracting excessive attention.
– The political position of the artist and institutions must be neutral, or better yet, aligned with the official position of the state.
– Artists, due to isolation and the difficulty of participating in international art events, risk creating a gap in development between their work and global art. This gap will manifest itself not only in themes but also in techniques, styles, and the visual language of artists.
Will Russian art be able to overcome all these negative trends? Will new names emerge during this period in Russian contemporary art names that will be able to survive in the new reality while preserving the relevance of thought and freshness of execution? Will new movements in art arise, similar to Moscow Conceptualism, which emerged under and as a result of censorship and isolation in the USSR? These questions remain open.
Text in Russian is availible via the link.