On the occasion of its eighteenth anniversary the Ruarts Gallery presents ‘Personal Space’, a collective retrospective exhibition. The exhibition will feature significant works by Russian and foreign artists who have participated in solo or group exhibitions at the gallery.
The coincidence of the sensual, erotic subtext with the gallery’s ‘coming of age’ is no mere accident – it was stage-managed by curator Katrin Borisov. A focus on bold and sometimes taboo topics has shaped the programme and image of the Ruarts Gallery for almost two decades.
This exposition reveals different levels in the understanding of personal space, internal and external boundaries, zones of intimacy and the ethics of physicality.
The title of the ‘Personal Space’ exhibition comes from a work by Alexey Luka, a sculpture resembling an old dacha that always feels calm and very comfortable.
In the curator’s interpretation, old works by favourite artists acquire new meanings: Kimiko Yoshida raises questions about self-identification; Cornelie Tollens about the union of the spiritual and carnal; Vlad Loktev about the fluidity of desire; Vita Buivid looks at stereotypical thinking; Sergei Borisov and Spencer Tunick consider the importance of the fragile human body and its territory; South Korean sculptor Yi Hwang Kwon turns to distorted ideas of one’s own body; Yoon Jung Mi and Alexander Egorov comment on globalisation and consumerism.
The architecture of the exhibition is based on the Ruarts Gallery space itself, which has become legendary over the years.
Ruarts Gallery is one of the leading contemporary art galleries in Moscow. Founded in 2004 by collector Marianna Sardarova, today the gallery supports and promotes the art of Russian and foreign artists working in various techniques of contemporary art practice.
For the past 18 years the gallery has hosted more than 100 solo and group exhibitions. The gallery collaborates with recognised masters, nominees and laureates of contemporary art awards whose work features in museum collections, and also with promising young artists.
