Red Square hosts large-scale Russian public art exhibition as part of GUM-Red-Line Festival
GUM in partnership with Archstoyanie Festival presents the new GUM-Red-Line Gallery festival, featuring the Red Garden – an exhibition of Russian public art. The exhibition is a part of the Cherry Forest Open Art Festival and is supported by its general partner — INTECO.
From July 1 to August 31, 2021, the space in front of GUM on Red Square will be transformed into a sculpture garden. Red Square will host an exhibition of public art by famous Russian artists for the first time ever. The title of the exhibition – Red Garden – is semantically linked not only to the place where the exhibition is held, with all the relevant historical meanings and connotations. The color red can be variously interpreted as a symbol of purification, and transfiguration, as well as courage, celebration, and magnanimity. Art pieces will be housed in residential neighborhoods and business centers of INTECO – general partner of the project, as well as Bosco Manufactures in Kaluga and Nikola-Lenivets art park.
The project Red Garden is the second edition of the GUM-Red-Line Festival that was first held in the spring of 2019 as part of the Cherry Forest Open Art Festival. The first festival celebrated the opening of GUM-Red- Line Gallery. The first exhibition of the project – One Family – was presented in the form of 15 pavilions by leading figures of Russian contemporary art, including Vladimir Dubossarsky, Oleg Kulik, AES+F, Andrey Bartenev, Pavel Pepperstein, and many others.
The projects of the 2nd GUM-Red-Line Gallery festival present a cross-section of various forms of contemporary public art: land art is the domain of maestro Nikolay Polissky; Moscow conceptualism is represented by Andrey Filippov; media art, imitating garden sculptures, is highlighted by Aristarkh Chernyshev; Rinat Voligamsi works in the postmodern tradition with a dash of surrealism; Dmitry Zhukov deals with monumental forged metal artworks; abstract sculpture is a calling card of Roman Ermakov; Dmitri Aske is responsible for showcasing public art with elements of Soviet monumental art; Vasilisa Prokopchuk and Evgeny Bragin highlight interactive installations.
All artists are united by their desire to express in monumental form the idea of contemporaneity and their vision of the possibilities for art in public spaces, as well as trace the co-relations with Russian history, discover the similarities between traditional and contemporary urban sculpture.
The design of the exhibition was created by the Wowhaus Architecture Bureau: geometrical podiums, flowerbeds, lawns, and paths in the style of classic gardens and parks. The exhibition expands the traditional Flower Festival that is traditionally organized for 9 years by GUM on Red Square.
The organizers complement the Red Garden exhibition with the total installation Russian Antiquity – the first solo exhibition of Nikolay Polissky in Moscow that will open on July 21 at GUM-Red-Line Gallery. Wooden sculptures by Nikolay Polissky and the artisans of the Nikola-Lenivets Crafts group reflect basic elements of classic architecture: columns, foundations, architraves will occupy the entire space of the gallery, except for the presentation hall. Photos and videos of the performance art pieces and other projects by Archstoyanie will complete the installation. The material covers 15 years of the festival’s work. Many documents will be presented for the first time ever, including the recording of the 33-hour performance art piece by German artist Mark Formanek.
Organizers: GUM-Red-Line, Archstoyanie
General partner: INTECO
Producers: Igor Kazakov, Julia Bychkova, Ivan Polissky
Curators: Anton Kochurkin, Marina Fedorovskaya
Architecture: Wowhaus Architecture Bureau
Artists: