Olga Chernysheva: In the Middle of Things

Olga Chernysheva
In the Middle of Things
23 January – 27 March 2011

Opening:
22 January 2011,
17.00 hrs

Lange Nieuwstraat 4, Utrecht
www.bak-utrecht.nl
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Between 23 January and 27 March, BAK, basis voor actuele kunst presents In the Middle of Things, a solo exhibition by Moscow-based artist Olga Chernysheva. Working on the background of the changes that Russia has undergone in the past twenty years, Chernysheva has followed a unique path among a handful of Russian artists who have resisted the dominant market trends of commodity production and spectacle, and embarked on a reevaluation of art’s methods as well as of its position in relation to society. The exhibition at BAK presents a view into Chernysheva’s extensive practice by bringing together works (including drawings, photographs, and videos) produced for this occasion, as well as new additions to existing series, and a selection of key pieces from the past decade.

In the Middle of Things is a probe into the contemporary conditions of life based on the example of Chernysheva’s native Russia and it follows the artist’s method of tracing moments of encounter between the unexceptional and the historically revealing, which take place in the most hidden corners of day-to-day life. In her works, forms, colors, and objects reminiscent of the Soviet times, or new communities and alienated individuals appear, but these are not innocent images randomly extracted from reality. Instead these fragments of daily life are highlighted, materialized, and taken out of their surroundings in order to show how society is and how it might be different. The artist’s deployment of realism—recomposing aspects of contemporary reality into a new social panorama—is implicitly critical and suggests how art can speak about the world today.

In the Middle of Things is a research exhibition within the framework of the project FORMER WEST.

Olga Chernysheva (born 1962) is an artist who holds a BA from the Moscow Cinema Academy, Moscow (1986) and graduated from the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam (1995–1996). Recent exhibitions include: 1st Ural Industrial Biennial, Ekaterinburg, 2010; Artes Mundi 4, National Museum, Cardiff, 2010; Over the Counter: Economy in Post-Socialist Art, Műcsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, 2010; 6th Berlin Biennale, Berlin, 2010; Olga Chernysheva, Calvert22 Foundation, London, 2010; International Center of Photography Triennial, New York, 2009; 3rd Moscow Biennale, Moscow, 2009; and 2nd Moscow Biennale, Moscow, 2007. Recent publications on her work include: Olga Chernysheva: Works 2000–2008 (2009) and Olga Chernysheva: Acquaintances (2008). Chernysheva lives and works in Moscow.

A public program accompanies the exhibition:

17.02.2011
Conversation between Olga Chernysheva and curator Cosmin Costinaş

15.03.2011
Lecture by art historian Ekaterina Degot on the work of Olga Chernysheva

BAK Opening hours
Wednesday−Saturday 12.00−17.00 hrs
Sunday 13.00−17.00 hrs

For further information please contact:
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst
Lange Nieuwstraat 4
3512 PH Utrecht
t: +31 (0)30 2316125
f: +31 (0)30 2304866
e: info@bak-utrecht.nl
www.bak-utrecht.nl