Beyond Zero
8 October–30 November 2014
Calvert 22 Gallery
22 Calvert Avenue
London E2 7JP
Hours: Wednesday–Sunday noon–6pm,
First Thursdays noon–9pm
Admission free
T +44 (0) 20 7613 2141
info [at] calvert22.org
www.calvert22.org
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“…we ourselves will go beyond zero.”
–Kazimir Malevich
“It was an extra-ordinary sensation. I had never felt quite like it before. I was free above the planet Earth and I saw it rotating majestically below me.”
–Aleksei Leonov
Beyond Zero draws its title from the now-legendary Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0.10 which took place in St Petersburg in 1915. Around this time, Kazimir Malevich wrote in a letter to his friend and collaborator the musician, artist and colour theorist Mikhail Matyushin that the Suprematist paintings he had presented at the exhibition enabled him to go “beyond the zero of form.” Beyond Zero explores the legacies of this moment, in tandem with the shifts of perspective brought about by the advent of space travel—culturally, politically and perceptually due to the new experience of weightlessness under the conditions of zero gravity.
Beyond Zero presents a unique set of hand-painted colour studies produced in 1932 by Mikhail Matyushin (1861–1934) in his Reference Book on Colour: The Laws Governing the Variability of Colour Combinations, alongside two films released in 1957 and 1965 respectively by the sci-fi director and special-effects pioneer Pavel Klushantsev (1910–1999), whose work inspired Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssy. These historical works are presented in dialogue with newly commissioned and recent work by four contemporary artists and artist collectives—Vadim Fishkin, Elena Elagina & Igor Makarevich, Peter Belyi and BlueSoup group.
The exhibition is curated by Olesya Turkina and is the third and final exhibition in the programme at Calvert 22 Gallery for 2014. Olesya Turkina is a curator, researcher and writer and has been an active cultural figure in the contemporary art landscape of St Petersburg over the last two decades. She is Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Contemporary Art at the State Russian Museum and Head of the new MA Programme in Curatorial Studies at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Smolny College, St Petersburg State University.
The exhibition is accompanied by a publication designed by Fraser Muggeridge studio.
Talks and events
Curator’s talk
Thursday 9 October, 7–8:30pm
Olesya Turkina, the curator of Beyond Zero, gives a tour of the exhibition at Calvert 22 and discusses the core ideas behind her research.
Book launch: Soviet Space Dogs
Friday 10 October, 7–9pm
Join us for the launch of Soviet Space Dogs, a book dedicated to the dogs who were crucial to the early success of the Soviet space programme. Text by Olesya Turkina. Published, edited and designed by FUEL.
Studio visit: Julia Tcharfas
Thursday 6 November, 7–8:30pm
Artist and curator Julia Tcharfas shares her ongoing research into the design and performance of artificial natures. Drawing on an archive of material sourced from scientific and technological folklore, the presentation will engage with a constellation of experiments that have involved closed systems. It encompasses tales of artificial environments, confinement modules, space colonies and alternative communes, experiments in life, diet and theatre, all of which link together through the origins of cosmonautic consciousness.
Socialist Friendship: Milica Tomić
Thursday 20 November, 7-9 pm
Join artist Milica Tomić in conversation with Vanessa Vasić-Janeković, who will discuss complicity and political trust in Yugoslavia’s support for anti-colonial struggles through the work of photographer and filmmaker Stevan Labudović. Chaired by Mark Nash.
Panel discussion
Friday 28 November, 6–8:30pm
Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, London WC2R 0RN
The Courtauld Institute of Art and Calvert 22 host a panel discussion in response to the core themes of the exhibition, chaired by professor Sarah Wilson. Further details to be announced on the Calvert 22 website.
All events are free and take place at Calvert 22 unless otherwise stated. Advance booking is necessary. Please visit www.calvert22.org for further information.
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