Natasha Struchkova
19 Jan - 06 Mar 2010
"New Structures"
January 19 to March 6, 2010
The first paintings by Natasha Struchkova from the FUTURUSSIA series were displayed at the 2002 ART-MANEZH International Art Fair, and the viewers immediately fell for them. The combination of modern digital scenes from the distant future of Moscow and classic media (oil on canvas) looked paradoxical at first, but the persistence in mixing the characters from different époques – warriors from Vasnetsov’s paintings, Khryusha and Stepashka, a piglet and a hare puppets from the broadcast for children, the monument to Peter the Great from our époque and numerous robots, new fascinating subjects (including the robotic invasion of the Moscow Kremlin) – made Struchkova’s art captivating for viewers of different generations.
The NEW STRUCTURES show of the REGINA Gallery presents new works of Moscow artist. The viewers will see painted works and the TEMPTATION object at it.
Here Natasha speaks of determination in art and of domination of standards in the contemporary world where everything has been decided for us.
“Manifesting seemingly “independent will”, our contemporaries are forced to create reality from bricks that were prefabricated and numbered by somebody else. The Lego industry represents an ideal model of the world based on the rule of standards. Through Lego children learn what a bear or a horse look like, grownups build models of historical houses, using “exclusive” sets of bricks and feeling like architects. This domination of standards is achieved through seduction and temptation, not through enforcement – Lego fascinates both with its sleek color and brightness, and even with the sound of falling bricks. The invisible empire of capitalism has already developed a whole strategy to persuade yourself that you are a creator.
Paintings by Russian artists form clichés of previous century, clichéed standards of beauty. Structuring them Natasha Struchkova reveals that many important metaphors inherent in the Russian art of the previous centuries, such as the horizon, vastness, bliss, eternity, tranquility, power, cannot be represented by means of Lego. The toy construction set is nothing but vanity and anxiety, an opportunity to infinitely change the form, to go through various versions mimicking emerging needs. Today this variable and mobile world is natural, its instantaneity can fall apart in a moment to turn into a pile of colored fragments to please the next “creator”.
The degrees in which people are connected, in which they are involved in social and other networks, the number of simultaneously functioning communications is the index of the social position today, the index of social power and prestige... Dynamic depictions of various networks and links form a recent trend in the web. Counting the guests of a blog or friends in social networks, all those dupes, loafers who visited your webpage... – who’s got more of them? If you stop this eternal chase of links for a moment, you might suddenly discover that everybody has already been captured, that the pattern is clear and quite traditional.” Natasha Struchkova
Natasha Struchkova (Moscow) graduated from the Moscow Architecture Institute (1987-1993) and the Institute for the Issues of Contemporary Art (1999-2000). Web designer, winner of the national Intel Internet Award in the Network Art nomination, a member of the ABC group. Participant of many group shows in Russia and abroad, including the 2007 2nd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, the 11th Art Moscow International Art Fair in 2007, Spank the Monkey, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK, 2007, Russian POP ART, State Tretyakov Gallery, 2005. The first personal show of the artist was displayed at the REGINA Gallery in 2004.
The show will be displayed from January 19 to March 6.
A catalogue featuring the dialogue between Natasha Struchkova and Semyon Faibisovich i published to accompany the show.
January 19 to March 6, 2010
The first paintings by Natasha Struchkova from the FUTURUSSIA series were displayed at the 2002 ART-MANEZH International Art Fair, and the viewers immediately fell for them. The combination of modern digital scenes from the distant future of Moscow and classic media (oil on canvas) looked paradoxical at first, but the persistence in mixing the characters from different époques – warriors from Vasnetsov’s paintings, Khryusha and Stepashka, a piglet and a hare puppets from the broadcast for children, the monument to Peter the Great from our époque and numerous robots, new fascinating subjects (including the robotic invasion of the Moscow Kremlin) – made Struchkova’s art captivating for viewers of different generations.
The NEW STRUCTURES show of the REGINA Gallery presents new works of Moscow artist. The viewers will see painted works and the TEMPTATION object at it.
Here Natasha speaks of determination in art and of domination of standards in the contemporary world where everything has been decided for us.
“Manifesting seemingly “independent will”, our contemporaries are forced to create reality from bricks that were prefabricated and numbered by somebody else. The Lego industry represents an ideal model of the world based on the rule of standards. Through Lego children learn what a bear or a horse look like, grownups build models of historical houses, using “exclusive” sets of bricks and feeling like architects. This domination of standards is achieved through seduction and temptation, not through enforcement – Lego fascinates both with its sleek color and brightness, and even with the sound of falling bricks. The invisible empire of capitalism has already developed a whole strategy to persuade yourself that you are a creator.
Paintings by Russian artists form clichés of previous century, clichéed standards of beauty. Structuring them Natasha Struchkova reveals that many important metaphors inherent in the Russian art of the previous centuries, such as the horizon, vastness, bliss, eternity, tranquility, power, cannot be represented by means of Lego. The toy construction set is nothing but vanity and anxiety, an opportunity to infinitely change the form, to go through various versions mimicking emerging needs. Today this variable and mobile world is natural, its instantaneity can fall apart in a moment to turn into a pile of colored fragments to please the next “creator”.
The degrees in which people are connected, in which they are involved in social and other networks, the number of simultaneously functioning communications is the index of the social position today, the index of social power and prestige... Dynamic depictions of various networks and links form a recent trend in the web. Counting the guests of a blog or friends in social networks, all those dupes, loafers who visited your webpage... – who’s got more of them? If you stop this eternal chase of links for a moment, you might suddenly discover that everybody has already been captured, that the pattern is clear and quite traditional.” Natasha Struchkova
Natasha Struchkova (Moscow) graduated from the Moscow Architecture Institute (1987-1993) and the Institute for the Issues of Contemporary Art (1999-2000). Web designer, winner of the national Intel Internet Award in the Network Art nomination, a member of the ABC group. Participant of many group shows in Russia and abroad, including the 2007 2nd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, the 11th Art Moscow International Art Fair in 2007, Spank the Monkey, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK, 2007, Russian POP ART, State Tretyakov Gallery, 2005. The first personal show of the artist was displayed at the REGINA Gallery in 2004.
The show will be displayed from January 19 to March 6.
A catalogue featuring the dialogue between Natasha Struchkova and Semyon Faibisovich i published to accompany the show.