Works by more than five dozen Eastern European neo-avant-garde artists associated with the Arteast 2000+ Collection — including Marina Abramović, Kazimir Malevich, IRWIN, Darinka Pop-Mitić, and Ilya and Emilia Kabakov — go on view in Grammar of Freedom | 5 Lessons at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, opening February 6 and running through April 19.
Curated by Zdenka Badovinac, Snejana Krasteva, and Bojana Piškur and organised in collaboration with the Moderna Galerija in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where Arteast is based, the exhibition examines how each of the artists presented has tapped into personal struggles for artistic freedom in their practices in the wake of the Cold War, a time in which their respective nations transitioned from Socialist states to the neoliberal capitalist countries they are today.
Sanja Iveković, Triangle 2000+, 1979. Courtesy Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana.
With works ranging from the 1960s to the present, the show is organised around five open-ended ‘lessons’, each of which highlights a strategy used by the artists to overcome ideology and conflict along the path toward intellectual freedom.
Highlights include a trio of text-based works by Mladen Stilinović, and still images of György Galántai’s performance piece, Homage to Vera Mukhina, which took place in Heroes’ Square in Budapest in May 1980. As visitors move through the exhibition, they will realise that the path they take traces the shape of a five-pointed star, an unmistakable symbol of the Socialist regimes of the former Yugoslavia and USSR.
Ilja Šoškić, Maximum Energy-Minimum Time, 1975. Courtesy Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana.
‘For those of us working in Russian art institutions, it has become increasingly important that we delve deeper into our parallel legacies and that we present exhibitions that differ in strategy from the canonic Western models,’ says Krasteva, who is also curator of the Garage Museum. ‘Only then can we understand how, for example, historically overlooked artworks have become relevant, and how informal artist networks have fomented cultural exchange.’
A non-profit project of the IRIS Foundation, the Garage Museum was founded by Dasha Zhukova in 2008 to foster greater dialogue between young Russian artists and the global art community. Currently housed in a temporary pavilion in Gorky Park designed by architect Shigeru Ban, the museum will move into a permanent home later this year — the 1960s Vremena Goda (Seasons of the Year) pavilion in the park — which is being re-imagined by Rem Koolhaas.
Mladen Stilinović, Dead Optimism, 1980 (from: Red Era, 1973-1990). Photo: Dejan Habicht. Courtesy Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana.
In commenting on the exhibition, Badovinac, director of Moderna Galerija, says, ‘We live in a time when communication is really important and exhibitions have the potential to stimulate exchange between people with different perspectives and experiences. Through the works we have included, we have sought to redefine the concept of freedom in light of the geopolitical, economic, and technological realities of today.’
An international symposium, Where is the Line Between Us?, will be held on March 21 at the Garage Education Center and Library. Speakers include Badovinac, Anthony Gardner, Boris Groys, Rastko Močnik, and Alexei Yurchak.
KwieKulik, Activities with the Head, 1978. Courtesy Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana.