‘Happy New Year’ a group show curated by Plague, at Plague Space, Krasnodar
Happy New Year, Krasnodar!
Happy New Year, World!
Let’s ask ourselves: what makes a new year so new? A calendar becomes a rather arbi- trary cause, as it only involves swapping digits. Is that enough to qualify for some- thing truly new?
Is it even appropriate to talk about new? 2020 novelty wore off not too long ago, but would it have been better to not have it exist entirely (how many people agree with me? click yes if you do). Or maybe it would have been better if 2020 became dated right away and retired on, say, January 8th, 2020. What would the calendar do then? How would it be? It would have to come up with some way out of that situation. If 2021 came right after, would it be new in that particular scenario? January 9th, 2020 becomes the new year 2021. Here, it came a little later, on December 12th. What hap- pened on that day?
First, a new gallery opened with a new exhibition. Is that a sufficient reason for a new beginning? We shall see.
Second, the exhibition we opened has the word new in the title. Might that be a suffi- cient reason for our relentless quest for novelty? Wait for it.
Third, we’ve written a text speculating about the new, about the title of the show, about what the calendar would do if 2020 died in its sleep on January 8th, 2020. That should be enough by now. Stop! (there is also fourth)
Fourth, may the new year bring you joy and renewal. No, wait, once again.
Fourth, the Krasnodar region is full of surprises; the number of surprises and the de- gree to which the population is aware of them, depends on the work of publicity man- agers of the regional administration. Should we proclaim that Krasnodar communica- tion department gets the job done? That is a completely new angle; we are not ready to comment on this at the time.
In general, this exhibition is about how difficult it can sometimes be to put on a proper exhibition. Or, on the contrary, about how easy it can sometimes be to put on a proper exhibition. We truly wish we could confuse you, not sure if we got it right (click yes).
Vitaly Bezpalov, Arthur Golyakov, Dasha Kuznetsova, Stas Lobachevskiy, Ilya Smirnov, Nastya Vasileva, Vanya Venmer
12.12.20 — 22.1.21
Text: Natalya Serkova
Venue: Plague Space, Krasnodar, Russia
Photo by: Angelina Venmer
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Ilya Smirnov, ‘36912’, 2020, graphite on paper, 295 × 240 mm
Ilya Smirnov, ‘36912’, 2020, graphite on paper, 295 × 240 mm
Exhibition view
Dasha Kuznetsova, ‘Power of the crown (corona)’, 2020, carved wood, toy crown, acrylic lacquer, 10 x 9 x 9 cm
Dasha Kuznetsova, ‘Power of the crown (corona)’, 2020, carved wood, toy crown, acrylic lacquer, 10 x 9 x 9 cm
Exhibition view
Vitaly Bezpalov, ‘Memory…stored for millions of years…point by point with the body of the Church, the State…in the safety of the holy words pronounced’, 2020, digital print on film, guitar, cigarette butts, 100 х 38 х 10 cm
Vitaly Bezpalov, ‘Memory…stored for millions of years…point by point with the body of the Church, the State…in the safety of the holy words pronounced’, 2020, digital print on film, guitar, cigarette butts, 100 х 38 х 10 cm, details
Vitaly Bezpalov, ‘Memory…stored for millions of years…point by point with the body of the Church, the State…in the safety of the holy words pronounced’, 2020, digital print on film, guitar, cigarette butts, 100 х 38 х 10 cm, details
Vitaly Bezpalov, ‘Memory…stored for millions of years…point by point with the body of the Church, the State…in the safety of the holy words pronounced’, 2020, digital print on film, guitar, cigarette butts, 100 х 38 х 10 cm, details
Exhibition view
Arthur Golyakov, ‘Aquarium’, 2011-2012, corrugated board, enamel, spray paint, solvent, marker, 149 x 41 cm
Arthur Golyakov, ‘Aquarium’, 2011-2012, corrugated board, enamel, spray paint, solvent, marker, 149 x 41 cm, details
Arthur Golyakov, ‘Aquarium’, 2011-2012, corrugated board, enamel, spray paint, solvent, marker, 149 x 41 cm, details
Stas Lobachevskiy, ‘Reaching through’, 2020, modeling clay, lacquer, 35 x 15 x 15
Stas Lobachevskiy, ‘Reaching through’, 2020, modeling clay, lacquer, 35 x 15 x 15
Stas Lobachevskiy, ‘Reaching through’, 2020, modeling clay, lacquer, 35 x 15 x 15
Stas Lobachevskiy, ‘Reaching through’, 2020, modeling clay, lacquer, 35 x 15 x 15, details
Vanya Venmer, ‘Guard III’, 2020, pen on paper, 210 × 297 mm
Vanya Venmer, ‘Guard III’, 2020, pen on paper, 210 × 297 mm
Vanya Venmer, ‘Guard III’, 2020, pen on paper, 210 × 297 mm, details
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Nastya Vasileva, ‘Plumbob 95.35(8) + 31.77(4)’, 2019-2020, polyurethane plastic, hair, plexiglass, steel chain, dimensions vary
Nastya Vasileva, ‘Plumbob 95.35(8) + 31.77(4)’, 2019-2020, polyurethane plastic, hair, plexiglass,
steel chain, dimensions vary, details
Nastya Vasileva, ‘Plumbob 95.35(8) + 31.77(4)’, 2019-2020, polyurethane plastic, hair, plexiglass,
steel chain, dimensions vary, details
Nastya Vasileva, ‘Plumbob 95.35(8) + 31.77(4)’, 2019-2020, polyurethane plastic, hair, plexiglass, steel chain, dimensions vary, details