SPECIAL FEATURE: 8th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art

Artists: Stephan Balkenhol, Georg Baselitz, Alexander Brodsky, Evgenia Buravleva, VALIE EXPORT, Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal, Sonja Gangl, Evgeny Granilshchikov, Alex Katz, Andrey Kuzkin, Maria Kulagina, Halla bint Khalid, Rashid al Khalifa, Mohammed Khoja, Maria Lassnig, Leyla, Alexey Luka, Orhan Mammadov, Tony Matelli, Muntean / Rosenblum, Hermann Nitsch, Pavel Otdelnov, Paola Pivi, Egor Plotnikov, Vitaly Pushnitsky, Neo Rauch, Gerhard Richter, Natalia Sitnikova, Maria Suvorova, Lijun Fang, Xenia Hausner, Zhang Huan

Exhibition title: The Main Project “Orienteering And Positioning”

Venue: State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia

Date: October 31, 2019 – January 22, 2020

Curator: Dmitri Tcherniakov

Architects: Sergei Tchoban, Agniya Sterligova

Designer: Igor Gurovich

Photography: Kiki Petratou / All images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art

Moscow Biennale aims to be not only a particular powerful event, but also a new institutional project that strengthens relationships between curators, art historians, managers, federal authorities, sponsors and trustees, mass media and public opinion on contemporary art both in and outside Russia itself. It is the organisers’ intention that the Moscow Biennale will be a reproducible strong structure that finds its place in the network of other major international art forums.

The Main Project of the 8th Moscow Biennale consists of more than 50 works of 34 artists from 11 countries: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the USA.

For the first time one of the world’s leading museums – Albertina (Vienna, Austria) – became a partner of the Moscow Biennale. The masterpieces of 11 artists of the XX century will come from the collection of Albertina Museum.

Dmitri Tcherniakov, the curator Main Project of the 8th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art:

«This is my first experience of curatorial work in such a large project. I am very glad that something like this happened in my life. This experience connects a lot of things in my life, because, as I said, the visual is a very important part of what I do and what I love in the theater. Therefore, this is the main motivation. As I always say, I am in favor of expanding the boundaries between hermetic arts, which are usually rarely interested in each other.

In General, what is creativity? Creativity, if we talk simly – is the creation of something new, so we all do it in its own way and in different genres. Therefore, I am very grateful that all this happened, and thank you to Sergei Tchoban, who made a great project, and the organization of the Moscow Biennale, Julia Muzikiantskaya, and all the artists who is participating in the Main Project. Unfortunately, many artists who planned to take part in this project couldn’t do it and I express them my apologies. The exhibition, I hope, will impress visitors. The Project will be opened on October 31st»

Julia Muzikantskaya, the president of the Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art:

«The main project of the 8th Moscow Biennale is the extraordinary and bright exhibition. It seems to me that no one has ever done something of this kind, which is not surprising. I would like to thank the unique team of curators: Dmitri Tcherniakov, architects Sergei Tchoban and Agniya Sterligova and, of course, one of the leading world’s museums – Albertina. The main idea of any Biennale is the dialogue of artists, the creative interaction. It was important for us that Russian artists would have the opportunity for this dialogue with the recognized celebrities of the world and their best art works. Of course, this was made possible mainly because our partners and trustees. I would like to emphasize that for many years the creation of the new pieces for Moscow Biennale has become possible due to the support of Leonard Blavatnik.

Let me express my gratitude to our constant partners – Transneft, Gazprombank, Ingosstrakh, Metropol and Azimut hotels and new and, I hope, also constant – MTS and Aeroflot.

I would like to thank the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia O.U. Golodets and the Minister of Culture V.R. Medinsky, the Moscow government for the support provided.

Special thanks to Zelfira Tregulova and the team of State Tretyakov Gallery.»

Klaus Albrecht Schröder, general director of Albertina

«For many years the Albertina Museum has had close partnerships with renowned Russian museums.

Exhibitions at the State Hermitage Museum and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg as well as co-operations with the Pushkin Museum are now followed for the first time by a co-operation with the Tretyakow Gallery.

In the Main project of the 8th Moscow Biennale, the Albertina Museum is presenting important positions of contemporary art from their rich collections. Many of these artists will be presented for the first time in Russia»

Zelfira Tregulova, the general director of the State Tretyakov Gallery:

“I think it is very important that such a significant event as the Moscow Biennale should continue to live and be held regularly. Russia, which is not presented often at international art exhibitions and fairs, should indicate that contemporary art is interesting, lively and relevant in our country.

It is very important that the participation of the contemporary art collection from the famous Albertina Museum in Vienna and the exhibiting of the most important contemporary artists’ works are planned during the Moscow Biennale in 2019. Most of those artists have become classics, and it is very important that their works will be shown in the space, where during the late 1980s-early 1990s the breakthrough exhibitions of the great artists, including Rauschenberg, Tinguely, Gilbert&George, Rosenquist, and many others were held. The presentation of works created in recent years by Russian artists is also very important. It emphasizes the continuity of the tradition of the presence of contemporary art – both International and Russian, in the space of the State Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val.”

Sergei Tchoban, the architect and author of the exposition design of the Main Project of the 8th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art:

«My participation in the 8th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art as the author of the exhibition design is a great honor for me and a very interesting creative challenge, and I am highly grateful to the organizers for their trust. The design of the exhibition, which was developed together with Agniya Sterligova, is based on the idea of the city of artists. Various parts are interpreted as separate “buildings” and “squares”, the content and form of which are dictated by the intentions of the artists participating in the exhibition. I hope that the visitors will see the space of the exhibition as a series of successively shown large-scale spaces, and each of them is full of bright and unexpected works of modern art.»

Harm Weistra & Eddi Bal, Requiem for a Falling Man, 2019, Dibond, mounting scarf, video

The Main Project “Orienteering And Positioning”, 2019, exhibition view, State Tretyakov Gallery, 8th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art

Herman Nitsch, Actions, 1962 – 2005

Stephan Balkenhol, Six standing men with black trousers and white shirts, 2013, Painted cedar of Lebanon, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna – The ESSL Collection

Tony Matelli, Couple, 2015, Polyester, silicone, polyurethane, wood, steel, oil paints, hair, Collection of Ekaterina & Vladimir Semenikhin

Alexey Luka, Shelter, 2019, wood, plywood, banner fabric, found objects, metal, acrylic

Valery Koshlyakov, Angel castle, 1994, Corrugated cardboard, tempera, mixed media, Collection of Ekaterina & Vladimir Semenikhin

Zhang Huan, CPR foundation day is 1984, 2011, Ashes of incense on canvas

Egor Plotnikov, A minute for awake, 2019, Wood, paper, acrylic

Alexander Brodsky, 1992, Roads, 2019, Installation

Rashid al Khalifa, Maze, 2018, Enamel on Stainless Steel

Gerhard Richter, Abstract Picture, Nr. 611 – 1., 1986, Oil on canvas, The ALBERINA Museum, Vienna, The Batliner Collection

Evgeny Granilshchikov, Tactics, 2019, Video Installation

Maria Kulagina, Catcher, 2019, Mixed media

Neo Rauch, Let’s move on to the next, 2015, Oil on canvas, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna – The ESSL Collection

Muntean / Rosenblum, Untitled (Before we know it…), 2000, Acrylic on canvas, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna – The ESSL Collection

Vitaly Pushnitsky, Forest, 2019, & Character 2019, Oil on Canvas, wood

Alex Katz, Roses 2., 1998, Oil on canvas, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna – The ESSL Collection

Alex Katz, Jessica, 2017, Oil on canvas, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna – The Batliner Collection

Lijun Fang, 2014.9.30., 2004, Acrylic on canvas, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna – The ESSL Collection

Lijun Fang, Untitled, 2005, Acrylic on canvas, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna – The ESSL Collection

Orhan Mammadov, The Idea of Saving Aesthetics, 2019, Multimedia Installation

Orhan Mammadov, The Idea of Saving Aesthetics, 2019, Multimedia Installation

Halla bint Khalid, Punching Bag, 2019, Leather, filling

Halla bint Khalid, Housekeeping, 2019, Broom, mop, duster and resin bucket

Mohammed Khoja, The Driving Jacket, 2018, Satin

Paola Pivi, 2019, installation view

Andrey Kuzkin, Prayers and Heroes, 2016 – 2019, Bread, salt, wood, acrylic, metal, pva

Georg Baselitz, My parents by Dix (Remix), 2005, Oil on canvas, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna – Permanent loan of the Viehof Collection

Georg Baselitz, Larry (Remix), 2006, Oil on canvas, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna – Permanent loan of the Viehof Collection

Evgeniya Buravleva, Midday, 2019, Oil on canvas

Pavel Otdelnov, MSW ‘Timokhovo’, 2019, Oil on canvas

Leyla, All is sacred, 2019, Multimedia installation

Xenia Hausner, Scorpio Night, 1995, Acrylic and varnish on pressboard, The ALBERTINA Museum, Vienna – The Batliner Collection

Natalia Sitnikova, Prometheus, 2019, Oil on Canvas, tempera / Apostle Peter, 2019, Oil on Canvas, tempera

The Main Project “Orienteering And Positioning”, 2019, exhibition view, State Tretyakov Gallery, 8th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art