On March 19, The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture (GCCC) in Moscow celebrated the opening of A Certain State of the World? Highlights from the François Pinault Foundation Collection, an exhibition of international contemporary art from the collection of François Pinault curated by Caroline Bourgeois.  The show includes works -curated along themes of war, the society of spectacle and the globalized world- by thirty three top-ranking artists from North-America, Europe, Africa, the Middle-East and Asia, working with a variety of media.  Amid many noteworthy pieces, visitors can admire Jeff Koons’ famed Hanging Heart (1994-2006). Hanging Heart sold for $23.6 million on auction at Sotheby’s in November 2007 and was first publicly displayed at the inaugural exhibition of François Pinault’s Collection at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice.  Other artists included in the exhibition are: Chen Zen, Bill Viola, Francesco Vezzoli, Joana Vasconcelos, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Marion Tampon Lajarriette, Cindy Sherman, Paul Pfeiffer, Philipe Parreno, Takashi Murakami, Paul McCarthy, Mike Kelley, Kimsooja, Y.Z. Kami, Pierre Huyghe, Subodh Gupta, Johan Grimonprez, Loris Gréaud, Dan Flavin, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Liu Dahong, Maurizio Cattelan, Cao Fei, Carlos Amorales, Francis Alÿs, Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla and Adel Abdessemed.

The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture
A Certain State of the World?
Highlights from the François Pinault Foundation Collection
Obraztsova street 19 A, Moscow
March 20 – June 14, 2009

RELATED LINKS

Gallery Website (in Russian) [The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture]
Interview with Daria Zhukova on the Eve of the Opening Night [Financial Times]
A Review of the Opening Night [Saatchi Gallery]
A Review by The Guardian [The Guardian]
Article on Russian Art World and the GCCC [The Economist]
Article on Daria Zhukova and the Exhibition [The First Post]
Article on Daria Zhukova and the Exhibition [The Times UK]
Exhibition Review [The Moscow Times]

A Certain State of the World? is a remarkable show in several ways. Not only does the exhibition offer a public glimpse inside what is normally Pinault’s private collection, but also with this collection the GCCC has organized perhaps the largest contemporary art exhibition that Russia has ever seen.  Measuring over 8,500 sq. metres, the GCCC is Russia’s newest and largest exhibition space.  During a grim financial climate and a public largely unfamiliar with contemporary art,  A Certain State of the World? can be considered an audacious endeavor.

The visionary behind the GCCC and its latest exhibition, is Russian socialite Daria “Dasha” Zhukova. Zhukova, girlfriend of billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovic, aims to familiarize the Russian audience with contemporary art.  Assisted by Serpentine Gallery director Julia Peyton-Jones and Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota, Zhukova has transformed a former bus barage, designed by Konstantin Melnikov in 1926, into a gallery. The GCCC opened its doors for the first time in September 2008.

 

The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow, Via the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture

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