CYLAND MediaArtLab artists and collaborators Alexandra Dementieva, Elena Gubanova and Ivan Govorkov participated in the New Story-Tellers in Russian Art of the XX-XXI Centuries exhibition held at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg from March 25 through May 25, 2015.
The exhibition is devoted to the characteristics of the story or the narrative in the oeuvre of Russian contemporary artists. Painting with the well developed narrative origin has been traditionally ignored for the past decades for its literariness. Meanwhile for the past decade the story in its new conceptual context has been of great interest for the contemporary artists. The works by such prominent masters of the soviet painting as A. Levitin, A. Laktioniv, G. Korzhev, G. Ryazhsky, narrative by their nature, are presented at the exhibition as the background of its name. The significant part of the exhibition comprises paintings by many artists who keep on creating works of art today.
“Drama House” by Alexandra Dementieva at the Russian Museum
Included in the exhibition, an interactive video installation “Drama House” by Alexandra Dementieva is based on chance and the choices that viewers make, the project explores the contemporary trends in the construction of a narrative and the interplay between diverse informative sub-layers effected through the impact of digital, non-linear media. It also questions the very process of story telling and at the same time considers the way of audience reading. It investigates the differences of individual and collective perception. In other words, the sequence and choices that each viewer selects reflect his own perspectives and behavioral patterns, thus makes the viewer much more than an active participant.
Ivan Govorkov in front of his 6-part painting “Accident in a Snowstorm”
The Russian Museum today is a unique depository of artistic treasures, a leading restoration center, an authoritative institute of academic research, a major educational center and the nucleus of a network of national museums of art.
“The New Story-Tellers in Russian Art of the XX-XXI Centuries” was on display until May 25, 2015 at Marble Palace, St. Petersburg.