北京｜元素——俄罗斯当代艺术家群展

俄罗斯当代艺术史一直在延续，所以尚且无需理会那些悲观的预言和怀疑性的论调。的确，在过去几年里，俄罗斯当代艺术面临了一系列挑战，但这些挑战并非俄罗斯独有，而是全世界大多地区共同面临的现实。时间无情：白驹过隙，世代更迭，熟悉的知名人物从活跃的主流转变成为“不朽”的经典。

本次展览汇聚多位俄罗斯新世代艺术家，他们的作品呈现了俄罗斯艺术正在发生的变化，即，20世纪九十年代至21世纪初那种以社会批判为主的叙事理念，正在逐步让位于哲学思考、冥想状态、形式分析以及更纯粹的艺术本体探索。这种创作方式更贴近二十世纪初的前卫精神，众所周知，前卫艺术正是俄罗斯当代艺术的核心根基。

近年来全球性的变局改变了既有的运行模式，世界秩序展现出其内在的脆弱一面。物理距离的拉远、日常互动方式的重构与数字生活的普及，在很大程度上影响了新一代艺术家的议题选择与表达方式。与此同时，全球政治格局亦处于变动之中：冲突发生频率增加、价值体系面临重构，新的联盟与影响力中心逐渐形成。艺术的商业模式也与其他领域一样，逐渐向东方、尤其是亚洲市场倾斜。艺术博览会、论坛与重要展览中，也越来越多地展现出前所未有、富于实验性的创作形态。

展览名为“元素”，正是期望为中国观众提供一扇窥视俄罗斯艺术“元素”谱系的窗口，它们以象征性的方式回应了德米特里·门捷列夫（Dmitri Mendeleev）整理宇宙基本元素时所建构的周期表。最新动向下当代俄罗斯艺术家们各异的视觉语言、创作方法和个人风格，以及当下几乎所有的艺术类型与多数“流派”（如果我们仍可用传统艺术术语来描述的话）皆在此有所展示。

尽管对当代性充满信心，但艺术家们却并未切断与古典传统的联系，大多数艺术家正以重新诠释的方式再现传统。雕塑家兼陶艺家丹尼尔·安特罗波夫（Daniil Antropov）的作品即是一例，他将黏土和玻璃这类古典材料转化为具有随机熔融形态的完美塑性体，似乎有意摆脱巴洛克式的“过度修饰”。是短暂还是永恒？是废弃物还是珍宝？我们几乎难以分辨眼前的究竟是建筑废墟，还是历经末世烈焰熔铸的珍贵器皿？

另一位多媒介艺术家叶夫根尼·格拉尼利什奇科夫（Evgeny Granilshchikov）同样值得关注。不久前他在法国克莱蒙费朗的历史建筑群（Chapelle de l’Ancien Hôpital Général）中举办了一场极具表现力的大型展览。代表古老艺术的小教堂建筑与新艺术互动的形式本身就极具意义：在他的影像表演中，舞者与黑白纸张共舞的迷人互动，唤起着我们对当下复杂现实的反思。叶夫根尼认为，当下的创作者实则扮演着哲学家的角色。辩证法的古老法则向来非黑即白，而在其间审慎周旋，恰是一种面对不可抗拒之必然的应对方式。

米沙·古德温（Misha Gudwin）呈现了一系列极具独特性与表现力的避雷针装置作品。对他而言，闪电不仅是一种自然现象，更是神圣与凡世之间接触的象征。都市建筑成为其创作背景，大都会环境因而被融入宇宙的整体性之中——通过艺术家作品中捕捉的自然现象的能量流动，城市与宇宙相连。

谢尔盖·洛茨马诺夫（Sergei Lotsmanov）的作品异常生动。然而在强烈的色彩背后，隐藏着概念主义的微妙相互作用。他笔下的“地平线”彼此碰撞，宛如思辨几何的拼图游戏。作品表面色彩斑斓，涟漪荡漾，仿佛正在观看海市蜃楼这般自然奇观。艺术家曾深入研究过风景画的杰出代表：透纳（Turner）、塞尚（Cézanne），显然还有尼古拉·罗里赫（Nikolai Roerich）和帕维尔·库兹涅佐夫（Pavel Kuznetsov）。令人惊讶的是，这些练习其实是他城市绘画的一部分，是他在形式和颜色方面进行的新建构主义（neo-constructivist）实验。屏幕噪点与像素位移，在此被赋予与水波纹或大气波动同等重要的视觉地位。

艺术家叶甄妮娅·图特（Evgenia Tut）展示了如何将深研古代哲学与尝试现代实践相结合。她将创造视为一个过程，并利用旅行者们才会使用的行话进行了一场超越性旅行，并逐渐趋近中国古代中“道”的精神概念。点和线在空间中汇聚和分散，形成各种场域，实质上成为了艺术家内在状态的记录。

女性艺术家的作品自成一个清晰可辨的群体，令人难以忽视。这些创作虽自带性别的微妙维度，但并未与女性主义议题产生直接关联，反而在若即若离间展现出更为复杂的艺术姿态。

乌斯季娜·雅科夫列娃（Ustina Yakovleva）选用的材料，传统上常被归为”女性化”手工艺范畴。她将珠饰从装饰的使命中解放出来，使这些作品化作近乎具有生命形态的存在，成为一种特殊的生命形式。

瓦西里萨·列别杰娃（Vasilisa Lebedeva）的创作领域关乎个人神话的构建。她将民族文化与史诗中的角色，同内心世界的虚构形象相交融，让古老意象与现代技术微妙交织。这种对话发生在生与死、人类与灵界的交界地带。因此，作品《维迪亚之梦》（Dreams of Vidya）所呈现的：是在意识如绸缎般的画布上，浮现出朦胧的幽影。艺术对待织物材料极为珍重，珍视其肌理质感，理解材料吸收与抗拒染料的特性，更擅长在物体的内在空间中构建独特的维度。

安娜·卡兹米娜（Anna Kazmina）持续探索社会的基本原理。她通过不同的媒介与技法，敞开自己的世界观，展现出将多种意义结构汇聚于一个凝缩空间的能力。卡兹米娜那些绘有细腻水彩画的小巧盒子装置，私密而动人，传递出对私人世界脆弱性的沉思。外部的整体秩序与内在本质的短暂易逝形成鲜明对比。艺术家试图揭示人类经验与世界中所蕴藏的潜力，并将其呈现为一个活生生的多有机体。

有两位艺术家的名字常被同时提及，尽管他们内心世界与创作气质截然不同。塞尼亚·德拉尼什（Xenia Dranysh）很大程度上遵循着天真质朴的创作方法。这不是我们习惯认知上的稚拙，而是一种根植于温柔与脆弱，却又充满自省与自足特质的艺术姿态。德拉尼什的艺术是她这一代人的精神交汇点。她细腻的水彩意象明亮又转瞬即逝，如同轻柔的触碰，而在极富表现力的画面印象中暗载着四面八方倾泻而来的信息洪流碎片。对生命意义、人类情感本质以及外部生活与个人内心世界冲突的探寻常常出现在其作品之中。

与此同时，弗拉迪斯拉娃·塔拉索娃（Vladislava Tarasova）专注于小幅油画与版画创作。对她而言，“脆弱性”不是一种创作手段，而是一个研究对象。她笔下关于灰姑娘辛德瑞拉（Cinderella）的画作案例，并非仅仅作为童话角色，而是作为一个原型形象而存在。我们看不到女主角的脸，只能看到被定格的画面局部——一只手、一扇门、一把锁……可以将画面视作一次逃离和转变的尝试吗？当然，但它可能并没有童话般的happy ending：在蓝色的整体忧郁色调中，萦绕着悲伤与挽歌式的怅惘。在传统媒介的拓展方面，由阿列克谢·洛普捷夫（Alexey Loptev）和玛丽亚·洛普捷娃（Maria Lopteva）组成的AM小组的作品在展览中尤为突出。与米哈伊尔·拉里奥诺夫（Mikhail Larionov）和娜塔莉亚·冈察洛娃（Natalia Goncharova）这对20世纪俄罗斯先锋派（Russian avant-garde）中著名艺术组合相似，AM小组使用原始主义的语汇、稚拙淳朴的感觉以及接近新表现主义的技巧，似乎带领我们带回到了前卫经典的光辉英雄时代。但他们的调色板仅限于黑白两色，因此又形成了一种带有原始风格的漫画形式，并在其中似乎融汇了以波普艺术、非形式主义与俄罗斯前卫艺术为代表的多种风格特征。

与此同时，受过学院美术专业训练的伊琳娜·彼得拉科娃（Irina Petrakova），如今作为当代艺术家也正在重新审视经典，例如，我们是如何看待身体？艺术家使用油画棒这一对触摸极其敏感的材料。通过形式与内容的结合，创造出一种非凡的感知体验。这种体验首先关乎失去的可能、创作现象的短暂性，以及无疑地，揭示了存在物理形态的脆弱本质。

安娜斯塔西娅·安蒂波娃（Anastasia Antipova）是一位运用大型纺织装置、平面设计、物体艺术与影像表演进行空间创作的艺术家。她的艺术实践持续探讨距离、孤独及个体内在蜕变等主题。其项目作为一场沉浸式整体装置，将观者带入当代社会疏离与分裂的情境中，通过金属插座、画布、茶杯以及纺织勋章等象征胜利与体育竞技的符号元素，暗喻人们无休止的自我比较、对被评判的恐惧、以及与外界阻碍和内心恐惧的持续抗争。借助实证与共情的艺术手法，安蒂波娃提出了建立人际联结、消弭隔阂的乌托邦式路径。该装置艺术以“转化”现象与角色扮演作为接纳脆弱、寻求互助的方法，最终引导观者步入一个超越疏离的空间：在这个人人皆可能感受孤独的世界里，真正的胜利蕴藏于相互扶持与理解之中。

俄罗斯当代艺术界的多元景象就此铺陈展现。切身经验与实践探索给予了这些艺术家方法、技艺与知识体系，作品中各种时而直白时而隐晦的意涵，皆通过极具表现力的意象折射出了这个时代的主题与象征。总而言之，本次展览可以被视为一次搭建桥梁的尝试：它尝试连接本土与全球，个人与集体。这不仅只是一场展览，更是一个交流思想的平台，旨在加强文化联系，并寻找理解我们所处世界的新途径。同时，展览邀请观众反思艺术家、思想及文化这三个个体“元素”之间又是如何相互作用并最终形成了当下这个独特的艺术微观世界。

文/奥尔加·图尔奇纳

The history of Russian contemporary art continues, regardless of gloomy predictions and skepticism. Indeed, over the past few years, it has faced a number of challenges, but these are common to most parts of the world, not just Russia. Time is relentless: it on, generations change, and familiar big names pass from the live mainstream into the category of “bronze” classics.  

THE ELEMENTS gathered artists of a new generation. Their works stand for what’s happening in Russian art. The narrative concept of the 1990s and early 2000s, which was mostly about social critique, gives way to philosophy, meditation, form analysis, and, in general, the noble realm of art. This practice is much closer to the avant-garde explorations of the early 20th century, known to be the core foundation of contemporary Russian art. 

The pandemic has changed the way things used to be: the world order’s fragility was revealed. The issue of self-isolation, the rupture of various kinds of usual ties, and the retreat to online have largely determined the discourse of a new generation of artists. The global political landscape has changed:  conflicts, reassessments, the creation of new alliances and gravity centers. The art business model, like other businesses, began to move eastward to Asian countries. Art fairs and forums, as well as landmark exhibitions, show on unexplored, alternative forms of creative activity.  

The ELEMENTS exhibition offers Chinese viewers a glimpse into a Russian set of artistic “elements” that symbolically echoes Dmitri Mendeleev’s periodic table, which organizes the fundamental elements of the universe. The project brings together contemporary Russian artists with their visual languages, individual methods, and styles. The authors demonstrate the latest trends. Almost all types of art, most “genres,” if only we can talk about them using the usual art terminology are showcased here.

Despite their confidence in contemporaneity, artists have not lost touch with classics. Most of them are reinterpreting traditional methods. An example is the work of sculptor and ceramist Daniil Antropov. He seems to have decided to move away from the “excesses” of the Baroque and transform ancient classical materials — clay and glass — into perfect plastic with its “random” melting form. Temporary or eternal, trash or treasure? We are almost confused about what it is: construction waste or precious vessels melted in apocalyptic flames. 

Another example is multidisciplinary artist Evgeny Granilshchikov. Recently, he surprised audiences with a large and expressive exhibition at the Chapelle de l’Ancien Hôpital Général in Clermont-Ferrand, France. This is now on show to Chinese audiences. The very format of interaction between old art (the architecture of the chapel) and new art is highly significant: his video performance, where a mesmerising dance with white and black sheets of paper is performed, reminds us of the complex period of reality. Evgeny believes that currently the creator occupies the position of a philosopher. The ancient law of dialectics is black and white, and the attempt to maneuver is a way to manage the inevitable. 

Misha Gudwin presents highly unusual and expressive lightning rod objects. For him, lightning is not just a natural phenomenon, but a symbol of the contact between the divine and the earthly. The urban architecture is the background. Thus, the metropolitan environment is part of the universal cosmos. It is connected to the universe by the currents of natural phenomena captured in the artist’s works.  

Sergei Lotsmanov’s works are exceptionally vivid. Yet behind the intensity of the colors lies a subtle interplay of conceptualism. The collision of his “horizons” resembles a puzzle of speculative geometry. Its surface is colored with picturesque ripples, as if we were looking at a mirage, a natural wonder. The artist closely studied the best representatives of landscape painting: Turner, Cézanne, apparently Nikolai Roerich and Pavel Kuznetsov. Surprisingly, we learn that these exercises are part of his urban painting, neo-constructivist experiments with form and color. Screen noise and pixel shifts are as important as water ripples or air mass fluctuations.  

Artist Evgenia Tut shows how diving into ancient philosophy and trying out modern practices can work together. She sees creativity as a process and, using traveler lingo, goes on a transcendental trip, getting closer to the ancient Chinese concept of Tao. Points and lines, converging and diverging in space, form various fields, records of the author’s inner states.  

The works of female artists form a clearly distinguishable cluster, which is hard to ignore. They are not related to feminist discourse, although gender nuances are, of course, present. 

Ustina Yakovleva works with materials that traditionally fall into the category of “feminine” handicrafts. Beads and glass beads are freed by the artist from the obligation to serve as decoration. Yakovleva’s objects are almost biomorphic substances, existing as a special form of life. 

Vasilisa Lebedeva works in the field of personal mythology. Characters from ethnic cultures and epics meet fictional heroes from her inner world. Archaic images weave together with modern tech. It happens on the border between the worlds of the living and the dead, humans and spirits. Thus, the workDreams of Vidya shows ghostly silhouettes on the silk canvas of consciousness. The author treats the material — fabrics — with care, appreciating their texture, their ability to absorb and reject dyes, and to work on space while being inside the body of the object.  

Anna Kazmina thinks about the key principles of society. Through different media and techniques, she opens up her worldview, her ability to bring together many meaningful structures into a single, concentrated space. Kazmina’s small box objects — intimate and touching works with delicate watercolor paintings — convey a reflection on the private world’s fragility. The external monolith and its order contrast with the ephemerality of the inner essence. The artist seeks to reveal the potential in human experience and the world, which she presents as a living multi-organism.

Two names come to mind together, although they are different artists with different inner worlds and creative temperaments. Xenia Dranysh largely follows the ingenuous approach. This is not naive in the sense that we are used to, but rather a type of artist who is fundamentally gentle and vulnerable, yet self-aware and self-sufficient. Dranysh’s art is a juncture of her generation. Her images, delicate watercolors, bright, fleeting,  are light touches, expressive impressions, hints of fragments from the stream of information pouring down on us from various sources. Her works raise many questions about the meaning of life, the nature of human feelings, and the conflicts between external life and the inner world of a person. Meanwhile Vladislava Tarasova is the author of small canvases and graphics. In her case, “fragility” is not a method, but an object of study. This is the case of canvases about Cinderella not as a character, but as an archetypal figure. We do not see the heroine’s face, only a captured “frame” with a hand, a door, a lock… An attempt to escape and transform? Yes, but without the fairy tale’s happy ending: in a blue tone, which is associated with sadness and elegiac disappointment.  

In terms of developing the potential of traditional media, the compositions of the Gruppa AM — the duo of Alexey Loptev and Maria Lopteva — stand out at the exhibition. Like another well-known duo, Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova, these artists use the language of primitivism,  amateur creativity, and techniques close to neo-expressionism. The artists seem to take us back to the bright heroic era of avant-garde classics. But the painters’ palette is monochrome — only black and white — a kind of primitive comic book in which pop art, informel, and the Russian avant-garde seem to converge.

Meanwhile Irina Petrakova, trained in fine arts, now as a contemporary artist, is rethinking the classics, including how we see the body. The artist uses oil sticks (oil pastels) as an incredibly vulnerable to touch material. This combination of form and content results in an extraordinary perceptual effect, which speaks above all about the possibility of loss, the transience of creative phenomena, and, undoubtedly, the fragility of the physical shell of existence. 

Anastasia Antipova is an artist who works with space through large-scale textile installations, graphics, objects, and video performances. In her practice, she explores the themes of distance, loneliness, and inner transformation of the individual. Her project is a total installation that immerses the viewer in a world of contemporary alienation and social fragmentation. It combines metal sockets, canvases, cups, and textile medals: symbols of victory and sporting triumph referring to the constant comparison of oneself with others, the fear of judgment, and the endless struggle, both against external obstacles and personal fears. Through empirical and empathetic experience, Antipova suggests utopian ways to establish connection and reduce the distance between people. The installation explores the phenomenon of transformation and tricksterism as a method of accepting vulnerability and finding mutual support.In the finale, the viewer finds themselves in a space where alienation is overcome: a reminder that true victories are found in help and understanding, in a world where everyone can feel lonely.

Thus, THE ELEMENTS project assembles a variety of phenomena from the Russian art scene. The exhibition is packed with meanings — sometimes implicit, often expressive imagery — motifs and symbols of the current era. It draws on a whole panoply of methods, skills and knowledge acquired through experience and discovery. Overall, THE ELEMENTS is an attempt to build bridges between the local and the global, the individual and the collective. It is not just an exhibition, but a platform to exchange ideas, strengthen cultural ties, and search for new ways of understanding the world we live in. The project invites viewers to reflect on how individual “elements” — artists, ideas, cultures — interact to form a unique microcosm of contemporary art. 

By Olga Turchina