Irina Korina

Irina Korina.
Installations
1 July – 18 September 2009

RWE Tower
Opernplatz 1,
45128 Essen
Germany

www.museum-folkwang.de

Irina Korina (*1977 in Moscow) is one of Russia’s leading young artists. For the foyer of the company headquarters in the RWE Tower, Korina has developed various spatial installations, including an architecturally related work developed for the Tower. Furthermore, the artist is presenting a selection of objects from the last three years in her first individual exhibition in Germany. Irina Korina was selected as one of the artists for the Russian pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale. The exhibition Installations, from July 1st to September 18th 2009, is a continuation of the cooperation between the Museum Folkwang and the RWE AG in the field of contemporary art. The focus of 2009 is on Russia.

A mosaic, colorful and pregnant with meaning, draws attention like one of those found in Moscow’s famous subway stations. But this one is somehow different. From a distance wave cosmonauts on their way into an outer space promising a new future. On their helmets, the “CCCP” recalls Soviet hopes for success in politics and science. To reach the image in the installation “Back to the Future“, which tickles your curiosity, you follow an improvised office corridor. But the image is only partially accessible – a wall blocks your way. The mosaic is a trompe-l’œil, made of synthetic and painted sample tiles. The artist links political propaganda and consumer society advertising slogans with everyday banalities.

Irina Korina, a trained stage decorator, is fond of industrially produced surfacing materials such as wallpaper, oilcloth, mosaics, Styrofoam tiles, ceiling tiles, PVC, woodlook or flowerprint strips, which often appear in her installations. With “camouflage” and “bricolage” as artistic strategies, she repeatedly tackles the phenomena of artistically generated and illustrated nature. She is a master of the spatial and monumental format. Her works are often directly related to society, drawing their themes from media and events culture. Irina Korina consciously distances herself from the “Moscow Conceptualists” understanding of installation, one defined by one of Russia’s leading artists, Ilya Kabakof and which still influences the younger artists of the Russian Confederation.

The Moscow Museum of Modern Art presented an extensive exhibition of Irina Korina’s works at the beginning of 2009; which allowed a first overview of her plastic works of the last ten years.

Irina Korina studied at the Moscow Theater Academy and took courses at the ICA Moscow and the Soros Contemporary Art Center in 1999 and 2000. She then studied abroad at the art academy in Gothenburg in Sweden and at the art academy in Vienna from 2002 to 2005. The artist lives and works in Moscow.

There is a free catalogue brochure (16 pages, Ger/Eng/Russ) available, which you can order at info@museum-folkwang.essen.de, ref. “Irina Korina”.

Curator: Dr. Sabine Maria Schmidt

Opening hours RWE Tower: Mo–Fr 10–6, Entrance Free, www.rwe.com

General Visitor Information
Tel. +49(0) 201 – 88 45 301
Fax. +49 (0) 201 – 88 45 330
info@museum-folkwang.essen.de

www.museum-folkwang.de