FQ-Test
19 March – 30 April 2010
2A/1 Leont’evskiy pereulok
Moscow, 125009
Russia
Anton Ginzburg, Yakov Kazhdan, Ksenia Peretrukhina, Arseniy Zhilyaev, Alina Gutkina, Lado Darakhvelidze, Vikenti Komitski, Neja Tomsic and Martin Brijcell, Lisi Raskin
“Who needs a world view?” This panel discussion caused a big rush during the 11th International Istanbul Biennial of Contemporary Art. There were very few visitors from Moscow, though one can easily find links to these reports in many Moscow blogs. Wide international recognition of socially engaged, critical art involves our capital only marginally. Pompous imported shows by celebrities from the international art scene like Claire Fontaine raise a great wave of interest that is not being further sustained. That’s why GMG Gallery looks exactly to young, progressive art, while shaping its new exhibition policy and putting the gallery on the map of Moscow and the entire world.
The idea behind FQ-Test project (freedom quotient test) sends us back to Guattari’s and Foucault’s philosophy, but only in part. Freedom quotient is an estimation of a possible freedom level in modern societies. This estimation is employed by the authorities to define the sufficient level of control inside every specific group. In this exhibition this phrase acquires a new color. We combine works by young progressive artists from Russia, USA, Eastern Europe and Georgia (CIS) in one exhibition to demonstrate differences and similarities of that quotient in art around the world, in joint cultural space. Thus, we manage to show the universal character of the language of art chosen by Russian artists and, correspondingly, the universal and international character of the gallery’s new exhibition policy.
Nine participants of the exhibition will calculate the freedom coefficients according to their intestinal necessities. Ksenia Peretrukhina will show “Not to Be Barby” film about modern woman’s dependence on the media image of a perfect body, Vikenti Komitski will bring together continents and geopolitical borders in his collage “Together Again” (this work was mentioned by the national Bulgarian BAZA Award for contemporary art). Exploring subcultural problems, Alina Gutkina will recreate the wall covered with underground graffiti artists’ works – a symbol of “otherness”. This wall was previously situated in Gutkina’s own flat and became one of the reasons for eviction and supervision from law enforcement authorities. Arseniy Zhilyaev will address the problem of human rights activism in historical context with the help of his installation “Vera’s fourth dream” which will demonstrate basic turning points of the American feminist community’s 19th century activism and compare it to the modern feminists’ activities. Lado Darakhvelidze continues to develop his project that was shown at this year’s biennial in Istanbul. In a series of paintings called “New State Symbol: Star” the artist analyzes attempts to erase and rewrite state history, paranoid claim of the official authorities to create brand new independent state identity. One of the most interesting emergent American artists Lisi Raskin teaches us through her art, how to stop worrying of comprehending the possibility to love A-bomb as the sign of two-poled world on the edge of a new cold war, paraphrasing Stanley Kubrick. Yakov Kazhdan’s new project “I Wash My Hands” deals with the feeling of guilt and refusal to take up social responsibility in everyday common rituals. Anton Ginzburg employs symbols of occult medieval rituals revised by pop-culture and raises issues of true place of history in modern society approached by market relations. Slovenian artists Neja Tomšič and Martin Bricelj keep working on their research of western sociocultural space from a perspective of artists from Eastern Europe. Their “Freedom in Freedom” work studies civil liberties in 11 American states that have towns called “Freedom” on their territories. On the basis of this cross-section, artists from five different countries will create a joint critical cultural space, presenting the results of their personal research. Freedom coefficient test in European, American and Russian art environment will let the viewer understand the abilities of young contemporary artists and the real level of their artistic responsibility.
