/NEWS/

ARTIST: IRINA DROZD
CURATED BY: IRINA RUSINOVICH
LOCATION: Bulowstrasse 11, 10789, Berlin
EXHIBITION DURATION: 11.02.2022 – 26.02.2022
VERNISSAGE: 10.02.2022 AT 7PM

The symbol and the symbolic image have always been among the most sought-after and beloved themes in art. The fears, archetypes, images, and symbols that our subconscious reproduces are striking in their diversity, depth of semiotic meanings, and allegoricality.
It is impressive how others read abstract images recreated by one person on an unconscious level. Even when we cannot directly grasp the connotative signification intended by the author, much is grasped through common cultural archetypes, through the inner reference points and images laid down in us by nature. It is impossible to read Lovecraft’s works without feeling a vague unease, even where seemingly trivial everyday events are described. It’s also impossible not to feel the disquieting mood of Goya’s etchings which make us all sense the growing fear of monsters looming in our vicinity.
The exhibition Dinner with the Monster tells of childhood fears that many of us carry through our lives. Irina Drozd explores in her works how people since childhood test the boundaries of what is permissible in society and what is not, and why, and how far each of us can go. This is a kind of dialogue with one’s inner demons, the stereotypes of good and evil, which the author wraps up in the images of fairy-tale characters and attributes familiar to us from childhood.
Revealing the theme of subconscious anxiety, the artist recreates disturbing, painful images of abstract monsters in her works. What adds even more drama to the paintings is the presence of children who, for all their apparent purity and naivety, arouse horror in the beholder, frightening him with their undisguised directness and quiet acceptance of the cruel adult world. Here a little girl’s charming smile is juxtaposed with a slain monster on a plate. The cold, regal beauty of children’s faces is interspersed with the suffering of monsters. But who is the real monster here, the viewer still has to decide: the little dead creature or the sweet girl, whose face we can read with undisguised pleasure and rapture of their own superiority?

IRINA DROZD

Graduated from the department of monumental painting at the St. Petersburg State Academy of Art and Industry. B. Stieglitz.
Since 2009, exhibitions of Irina Drozd have been regularly held throughout Europe. Now the artist lives and works in Russia and Hungary.
In her work Irina shows the interdependence and conditioning of good and evil, the thin line where one passes into the other. Everyday scenes in her works are filled with fantastical characters that remind us of the existence of what is unknown to reason.

Speak not, lie hidden, and conceal
the way you dream, the things you feel.
Deep in your spirit let them rise
akin to stars in crystal skies
that set before the night is blurred:
delight in them and speak no word.
Fyodor Tyutchev, «Silentium!» ( translated by Vladimir Nabokov)

ARTIST: LENTOV/ELENA FUKS
CURATED BY: IRINA RUSINOVICH
LOCATION: Bulowstrasse 11, 10789, Berlin
EXHIBITION DURATION: 14.01.2022 – 05.02.2022
VERNISSAGE: 13.01.2022 AT 7P.M.

Animitas Blanc (Animitas White), installation view, Ile d’Orléans, Québec, Canada, 2017 

15 March–15 May 2022

Manege Central Exhibition Hall (St. Petersburg) presents Russia’s first-ever solo exhibition by French art legend Christian Boltanski.

This project is made possible with support from the Institut Français in Russia in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the agreement on cultural cooperation between the Russian Federation and the French Republic.

Christian Boltanski (1944–2021) was one of contemporary art’s most outstanding and influential figures. Esprits is one of the last exhibitions to which Boltanski had personally contributed.

Christian Boltanski, Monumenta 2010, Grand Palais, Paris   

Boltanski himself selected those of his works from the past 10 to 15 years – large installations, video artworks, and art objects – to be exhibited at Manege. Some of his new pieces will be on public display for the first time: he created them as he reflected on events from Russian history and attempted to immerse himself in them more fully.

Boltanski’s project concept offers insights into subjects he has always accorded paramount importance: loss, memories, existential choices, fate, and personal and collective history. After the artist’s death, the team kept continued work on the project, using the materials, blueprints, and thoughts Christian left behind.

Personnes (Persons/Nobodies), exhibition view „Storage Memory“ at Power Station of Art, Shanghai, 2018

“I wish I could find some word connected with ghosts. But one that is tied to the idea of a return from the land of the dead rather than any particular place.”

From Christian Boltanski’s letter to Andrei Erofeev

“The pandemic has brought about a frightening but very curious phenomenon. Remember how we used to deny the very notion of death prior to the COVID era? Well, now we speak of death as something that is all around and a part of our reality.”

Christian Boltanski’s interview for Marian Goodman Gallery

Moved, 2013, exhibition view „Storage Memory“ at Power Station of Art, Shanghai, 2018  

When ruminating on a project at Manage, Christian mentioned that the concept of the St. Petersburg exhibition should be connected with Bloody Sunday. According to his notes, he was thinking about souls of insurgent workers wandering around the Manege space, waiting to be dispatched to Heaven or Hell.

For Christian, Manege was a symbolic place, saturated with history. The Dioscuri statues on the portico reminded him of an Ancient Greek myth. The brothers Castor and Polydeuces, sons of Zeus, were great heroes. Polydeuces was endowed with immortality by his father, while Castor was mortal. Not wishing to part with his brother, Polydeuces shared his immortality with Castor, but for this he was condemned to wander between Olympus and Hades with his brother for all eternity.

Personnes (Persons/Nobodies), exhibition view „Almas“ at Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile, 2014

The exhibition Esprits is organized by Manege in collaboration with Eva Albarran & Co (Eva Albarran & Co).

Hi there!

Today there are more and more female students in art schools. Meeting women artists and discovering their artworks in galleries and museums comes as no surprise, while, generally, the industry is still being dominated by men. Do you have something to say about this from your own experience? Or, maybe, you would like to make a statement from the cultural, historical, sociological point of view as a researcher/curator? Purplehaze is looking forward to hearing from you! Any forms of visual art (photography, mixed media art, new media art) and texts are highly appreciated! The upcoming #007 print issue of Purplehaze is called Women, so try to feel the flow 🙂

Please make sure you submit before January 15, 2022 in our inbox: submissions@purplehazemag.com

• Sizes of the images 2 mb – 8 mb
• We only accept images that are have not been published and/or previously shared on social media
• Team and wardrobe credits in .doc format
• Please include your, your team members, and the designers’ website & social media information in the credits so we can tag them when we share the images online
• Please use the following format for the Team credits
photographer PETER EXAMPLE @peterexample stylist LENA EXAMPLE @lenaexample model LUNA @lunaexample etc.
• We copy and paste each name directly from the file. So, please  check all the names for accuracy.
• Behind the scene photo/video/fashion film is a plus

WE ALSO ACCEPT GENERAL ART & FASHION EDITORIALS

Yours,
Purplehaze

Photo
D e n i s  K o n o v a l o v,  S a s h a  G r i g g

Last night, PURPLEHAZE MAGAZINE celebrated the launch of their 6 issue by throwing an incredible fashion industry launch party in Berlin’s beautiful and historic Schoneberg Area. HAZEGALLERY heated up like a sauna jammed packed with fashion insiders, photographers, stylists, make-up artists, models – some budding, others aspiring, were all there eager to get in on the PURPLEHAZE buzz and swap business cards.

The star attraction was the cover star himself Mark Bryan , who came extra for the presentation in a dazzling skirt and high heels! We would like at this point thank you Marriott Hotel for hosting our special guest for his stay in Berlin.

Other big highlight of the evening was the fashion show “fashion moment” styled by Miguel Maldonado with designer stars like Giuseppe Tella, BRACHMANN, Remesalt Official, Tanja Christiani and makeup and hairstyling by Nadia Kosh. And many others who had worked with, or were keen on the prospect of working with PURPLEHAZE.

Although this is the magazine’s 6 issue, PURPLEHAZE is a fully visual fashion and art magazine that targets fashion insiders as well as contemporary art creatives in graphic and photography industry. Their focus is on long editorial spreads that push boundaries of fashion, photography, art, design, creative talent/artists, contemporary culture, beauty, while showcasing fascinating models and their personalities.

When discussing the 6 issue’s theme «GENDERLESS», Editor-in-Chief Iren Russo states in her Letter From the Editor, «Today the issue of gender has gained particular importance. The digital society we exist in incorporates tons of images in our daily lives. Being constantly bombarded by the obtrusive pictures that tell us who we are and what we should be, we finally give up, identifying ourselves with the imagery. How may it affect our ways of life, worldviews, artistic activities? With the #006 issue titled ‘Genderless’, I invite you to discover the endlessly appealing topic of gender, the way it’s being formed, perceived, and challenged“

NASTYA NEKRASOVA, a Russian brand and permanent participant of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia joined MBFW Berlin for the first time. The video presentation of NASTYA NEKRASOVA’s digital collection was streamed at mbfw.berlin on September 7, as well as at MBFW Berlin’s official social media accounts. The digital show by NASTYA NEKRASOVA was arranged under the global initiative MBFW International Editions Vol 1 for designer exchange between Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weeks.  Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia in Moscow and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin made an agreement, and in turn a designer from MBFW Berlin will join the fall season of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia scheduled for September 19 through 23.

“The new collection has been inspired by ASSA, a super-popular Soviet film, namely the night dreams of the protagonist,” says Anastasia Nekrasova.

“Global collaboration and allying are major trends of the new era. The more experience we share, the more we communicate, all the more opportunities for designers from across the globe – it is easier for them to get into the spotlight, to be sustainable and unique,” believes Alexander Shumsky, President of Russian Fashion Council and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia.

NASTYA NEKRASOVA uses organic and recycled materials, supports local artisans and manufacturers and follows the slow fashion principles – less clothes, better quality. In 2021, the brand started a new totally digital clothing line.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin is taking place from September 6 to 8, both offline and online. Complementing these shows are presentations of fashion films by Marc Cain and talks by „She‘s Mercedes The Studio X MBFW Berlin“, a panel talk of the „Fashion Council Germany“ and three „Fashion Open Studio x MBFW talks“.

Russian Fashion Council: 

https://vk.com/russianfashioncouncil 
https://www.instagram.com/russianfashioncouncil  
https://www.facebook.com/RFCouncil  

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia: 

https://vk.com/mbfwrussia
https://www.instagram.com/mbfwrussia
https://www.facebook.com/MBFWRussia
https://www.tiktok.com/@mbfwrussia
https://t.me/mbfwrussia
https://twitter.com/MBFWR
https://www.youtube.com/user/mbfweekrussia

For additional information, please contact:

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia
E-mail: pressa@artefact.ru

Pearl Lam Galleries. Mrs Dudl

Pearl Lam Galleries. Mrs Dudl

HAZE GALLERY
presents 12-21 August
„SIE“ by TOTEM

She as the mirror which reflects our deepest fears and desires, she as the deposit of one’s tenderness and vehicle for self-awareness, she as the bridge to connect with one’s feelings and emotions. In the exhibition ‚Sie‘, Francisco ‚Totem‘ Perez shows us the different nuances of life thought the color spectrum with androgynous and feminine figures as the interpreters of scenes who invites us to a vindication of feelings, the creative spirit and the inner feminine which resides in every individual.