A closed exhibition was opened: a prohibited exhibition was shown at the Factory

The project of graduates of the school “Free Workshops” recalled a strange story at the Museum of Modern Art

In the summer, the Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA) opened the exhibition “Species Features” of graduates of the School of Contemporary Art “Free Workshops”. The project about “a person’s relationship with himself and with the world around him” was seen only by his own people: the very next day after the opening day it was closed, citing “problems with the plumbing,” which was partly true. One of the toilets in the museum on Gogolevsky Boulevard was flooded, but this is not a reason to close the exhibition of graduates of its own educational center. Nevertheless, the former students and their works were asked to leave. A few months later, the artists repeated their attempt to speak out, but on a different platform. “MK” appreciated the reincarnated ban at the exhibition “Open, close, repeat” at the Fabrika Center for Creative Industries.

“The feeling of being interrupted right in the middle of a sentence, and you want to finish it or repeat it from the beginning in order to complete the thought and be sure that it is clear to the interlocutor,” this is how the young artists who presented more than 30 works at the exhibition “Open” describe their motivation , close, repeat” under the supervision of Eldar Ganeev. The exhibition was not a repetition of the exhibition closed at MOMMA – it was rather a reminder of a failed project (hence the name, reminiscent of a guide to action). There is not a single work exactly the same at the Factory, but there are replicas.

Thus, “Late Flowers” ​​by Marina Goryacheva – a monochrome herbarium in a car tire – turned from white to black. At the closed exhibition, according to the author, the installation symbolized warmth and love, but now love has faded. Next to the black flowers sits a knitted character by Polina Savina – this is a new work, but also sad. A figure, dressed in a pink and blue sweater and a balaclava with woven roses, looks sadly at Late Flowers and says (in the description text): “Do you think it’s all in vain? I won’t succeed? We have a chance…”

Oleg Zharov’s installation, which represents a switched-off open refrigerator filled with half-empty cans, plastic bottles and containers labeled “object,” also turns out to be minor. Each of them has its own four-digit number. The installation “Cat and Mouse” (without authorship) is also a play and also in a minor key. The viewer is invited to enter a dark room, and in the first seconds it seems that there is nothing inside. But then the eyes get used to the darkness and begin to distinguish black objects: a table and chairs, a hanger with clothes, a kitchen set, a sofa, a refrigerator. The dark emptiness turns out to be filled with ordinary everyday life.

The gaming art object by Marina Guseva is also black. Before us is the “wheel of fortune” in reverse. The roulette, which must be spun, shows family memory by year: 1918 – fear, 1921 – loss, 1992 – talent, 1964 – freedom; Next to the word “love” is an infinity sign. About every year, memories from the artist’s family history are described in small handwriting.

The most unexpected exhibit of the exhibition is the figure of a man standing at attention on his head. At the first second it seems that he is alive – he is so naturally made. Before us is a clone of an artist performing under the name Arkadi-Arkadi. Along with his copy at the exhibition “Open, Close, Repeat” in another workshop of the Factory, you can find his separate project – a banana gallery made from cardboard boxes of tropical fruits. In the “paper space” works of other artists are shown: bright multi-colored ice cream knitted from threads, patterned inscriptions “love”, a T-shirt with palm trees, knitted swimsuits, a painting of men with naked banana-colored torsos… In the center of the “beach” gallery is a round board with a bulging eye painted on it with banana fish swimming around it.

No sedition was found in the remakes of the closed exhibition. The works are different in level, without a common logic and with a contrasting mood. Young artists talk about their sense of the world – each using their own means. They convey confusion, devastation and hope. Despite the circumstances, they continue to make art and wonder why their graduation project went under the knife. Perhaps this was a coincidence of circumstances that resulted in an embarrassment with the closure due to excessive caution of the management of the Museum of Modern Art. Or maybe there was something else. One way or another, there are few platforms left where young artists can exhibit freely. “Factory” today is a rare exception to the rule.