11.12 GALLERY presents a new project "Anti-Chandelier" by Anna Zholud, a participant of the main project of Biennale in Venice, as well as a numerous nominee for the Kandinsky Award and "Innovation" prize. The exposition includes the latest series of the artworks, such as sculptures fr om "Anti-Chandelier", paintings fr om "Imaginary Objects", "Addictionology" and "Flower Bouquet". The autobiographical audio installation combines all the elements to explain the circumstances behind the creation of significant artworks and give an answer to what does the artistic expression mean.
The main focus of the show signifies the connection between themes and time of creation of the sculptural "anti-chandeliers" and pictorial "imaginary objects". In the "Anti-Chandelier" series, the range of candelabras from the regular luminous store created with the artistic technique, wh ere the curved iron bars transform into the unique sculptures.
The "imaginary objects" and the details of luminaries, such as domes and lamp sockets, create abstract geometrical figures, which are far from reality. Using two techniques for creating art objects in space - metal rods (inside three dimensions) or tempera (on the flat surface), the series demonstrates how the contour, filled with color or just with air serves as a main expressive centre for the artist. For her, emptiness and completeness, everything and nothing relate to fundamental matters of existence. Both series are made to think about those polar definitions, which inspire the art of Anna Zholud. And the main two inspirations are realism and minimalism. The first one always refers to the real world, although, the second one multiples infinite numbers of time. It is difficult to oppose Rosalind Krauss, who identified minimalism not just as a peak of the rationalism in geometric abstraction, but as the extreme degree of irrationality and neuroticism.
However, it is impossible to claim that the new series of Anna Zholud continue the Krauss drawing,
which "got out of control." Dreary landscapes of «Addictionology», which are visible from the window of the hospital correlate to the "Bouquets". There three flowers are hidden in the jar like the artist locked in a room with four walls. All these facts frankly witness the circumstances of its creation. There is nothing painful in all of these manic, exhausting drawings. On the contrary, it is a kind of art therapy.
Sociologists and anthropologists write about the rituals of everyday life. Everything ever depicted in this painting and sculpture implies some ritual action. For example, a bouquet desires a festive table, a kettle needs a cup, a bottle wants a glass, and the hand of an artist is craving for a notebook. The autobiographical audio installation connects all the sculptural and pictorial elements and reveals the details of this absurd creative life. We have an opportunity to discover the main ritual, which unites the artist and real life.Everything is about the ritual of drawing on the plane surface or open space. This ceremony does not require a solemn atmosphere. The suburban train turns into a high-class one, wh ere involuntarily posturing travelers form etudes of hands and feet. The garages and small neighborhood houses in the city Electroisolyator call, likewise the charming world of Cezanne. "Anti-chandeliers" do not shine, but keep warm, serving as anchors, which allow clinging to something reliable in this unpredictable world. "Draw avidly until the hand becomes a stone" says the artist herself. The rest does not really matter.
Anna Tolstova
Open Studios
Free of Charge 