This year the ART KYIV contemporary art fair will feature an exhibition by contemporary Russian artists Vladimir Dubossarsky and Alexander Vinogradov, who have been working together since 1994. In the 2000s the artists played with the glamorous aesthetics then fashionable in the art world, now they have turned their attention to the streets and focus their canvasses on the so-called “poetics of the everyday”.

Organized especially for Kyiv by Moscow’s Triumph Gallery, X.Ten offers a collection of works made by Dubossarsky and Vinogradov over the past decade. It includes “Danger! Museum” which was presented at the 2009 Venice Biennale, the series “For Valor”,  and recently shown in Moscow “Retrospective”, along with “On the Block” about everyday life in the city of Khimki. This, by the way, is where their studio is located. It’s a big space with large windows overlooking the streets of the Moscow suburb. ART UKRAINE’s correspondent visited the artists and asked them about their work and the project that can be seen at Mytsetskyi Arsenal.

 

 

Anna Landikhova Let’s talk about the project that will be presented in Kyiv.

Alexander Vinogradov We have made a lot of new works that were never exhibited anywhere and they’re all part of our new projects “On the Block” and “Khimki-Life”. We wanted to show this project in its entirety, not like in Moscow, where it’s scattered in galleries. This is the first reason why we’re going to Kyiv. The second is what we saw when we looked at the space the first time. Mystetskyi Arsenal is a wonderful space. There aren’t any spaces like this in Moscow. Thank God it was given to art, because this space is suited for art.

- The life of Khimki is a strange theme. Why did you go there? It’s a poor city, a sad industrial landscape…

Alexander Vinogradov Not at all. Khimki is a great city. It’s a satellite city – they make engines for American rockets. We’re trying to work with reality, and because this is such a slippery thing, we don’t even know if it exists or not – and this reality is outside our window. In a sense, like we say with Volodya – “our whole country is Khimki”.

- All the people in your paintings, the girl chewing, the well-fed man – they could identify themselves. And here these not always nice people in a strange way got the right to be in your paintings.

Alexander Vinogradov Yes, these are real people. They can recognize themselves. The little man was a favorite subject of the Russian classics…

- I know that early this summer there was an exhibition at a Moscow winery and the Triumph Gallery where you showed the public your old but only recently completed works…

Alexander Vinogradov Part of this exhibition will be in Kyiv. Part of the project “For Valor”. And portraits. These are jurors. Twelve people.

- Jurors?!

Alexander Vinogradov Actually, this is the Khimki city hall of fame. These are the best people of Khimki. There are twelve of them and we decided that they could be the jury in any court.  

- What about “For Valor” – where did the theme come from?  Is it a tribute to patriotism?

Alexander Vinogradov If you want to put it that way – yes, it is a tribute to the generation of people who fought.

- What else will you be showing at Mystetskyi Arsenal?

Alexander Vinogradov There will be another project - “Danger! Museum”. We did it in 2009 at the Venice Biennale. These are paintings of famous people and classics of world art: Rembrandts, Joseph Beuys, Barack Obama. The group portrait of Rembrandt, for example… (This artist really loved himself and we made all his portraits into one painting). There is a hidden video camera in every piece. So that when a person is looking at the painting, the painting is looking at them.

- The works from “On the Block” reminded me of drawings in Soviet textbooks, good old social realism, at least in form.

Vladimir Dubossarsky Sure you can draw that parallel. In a way, when we were getting started we worked with imperial, baroque social realism as a language (Deyneka, Plastov, Gerasmon – artists from the 1950s). But our project is closer to the 1960s, to austere style, to democratization, to changes in society. Some things do intersect somewhere (Pimenov’s “New Moscow”, Bulatov’s “Krasikova Street”), yes, there’s something in common. Because we are Russian artists we have the national language, national culture. We take from here, from our roots.  

    

- Can I ask you about politics? Moscow is being shaken by a lot of political unrest, and artists sometimes participate… Many are outraged by what the government is doing.

Alexander Vinogradov I’m critical of politics. You don’t want to get involved in all this. I think the artist should somehow be above it. And then he can better assess and understand what’s going on. Revolution and evolution (I, of course, am more for evolution) will happen without us. There will be people who will do it.

Vladimir Dubossarsky The thing is that artists don’t change the world, everyone does: philosophers, writers… When modernism dominated there was one zone of thought at the time. Now (although maybe it’s over) we have postmodernism. It’s everywhere: in thinking, in politics. Now people are simply making money on postmodernist strategies. And everything is controlled. Everything, including art, contemporary art, protest art – is also in controlled in a sense, they’re financed spheres. Contemporary art is a kind of ghetto where protests are produced. It’s an area of freedom where you can criticize, but in the limits of decency. And this determines whether you’re invited to do exhibitions. So you have to think about what it is you want to do.

- And where do you fit as artists in this story?

Vladimir Dubossarsky Obviously, we don’t play these games. Because we never played them. I don’t believe in the sincerity of many artists. I think it’s situational. Artists are trying to serve the system. 

- Are there artists that you respect that you could name? Who do you like or who has influenced you?

Vladimir Dubossarsky There are many artists I respect. There are many Russian artists, also many promising young artists. I could probably name forty. We’re not going to name any now so as not to offend anyone. There are also many underrated old artists. I think that Russian art in general is underrated, it’s not described correctly. And, unfortunately, I don’t see any chance that it will ever be done properly.

Alexander Vinogradov There is an American artist that we borrowed from in our project – Edward Hopper. There are even a few paintings dedicated to Hopper. He was like us – he painted what he saw. 

- And now a question that everyone probably asks you. How do you work together? Does someone make the sketch and the other paint?  

Alexander Vinogradov No! Listen, we don’t make a painting together! Usually a project consists of several paintings. We discuss it over a long time. There isn’t controversy over what paint to use because we agree beforehand. We went to school together. We don’t elbow each other in front of the canvas.

 

Anna Landikhova

Translator: Christina Redko