press release - narrative projects

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Landscapes)in)Three)Languages!!
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Nikita!Alexeev!
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17th!September!–!31st!October!2015!
Private!view!17th!September,!6!?!8pm!
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narrative!projects!is!pleased!to!present!Landscapes)in)Three)Languages!by!Nikita!Alexeev.!
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In! writing! about! Nikita! Alexeev,! it! is! tempting! to! try! and! rise! to! his! level! of! intelligence! to!
explain!the!work,!but!this!could!be!counter?productive.!Though!he!has!managed!to!create!the!
most! simple! language! in! painting,! it! is! not! a! language! of! explanations.! As! he! writes! in! the!
catalogue,! ‘a! language! is! not! only! a! way! to! express! certain! ideas! some! structured! phonemes,!
but!a!way!of!thinking.’!He!is!not!interested!in!glib!attempts!to!explain!the!world,!rather!he!feeds!
us! glancing! blows! at! understanding.! ‘This! all! comes! from! the! man! who! is! probably! the! most!
lucid!artist!to!have!come!out!of!Moscow!Conceptualism.!!
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Alexeev! is! treated! fairly! in! the! survey! of! recent! Russian! art,! The) Family) Tree) of) Russian)
Contemporary)Art,!which!is!at!the!core!of!the!Garage’s!new!program!in!Moscow.!Alexeev!has!
been! the! most! consistent! and! coherent! of! the! Conceptual! artists.! When! in! 1991,! Andrew!
Solomon!tried!to!give!an!idea!of!the!changes!in!Russian!contemporary!art!in!The)Irony)Tower:)
Soviet)Artists)in)a)Time)of)Glasnost,!the!voices!of!Kabakovs!and!Erik!Bulatov!and!many!others!
were!heard,!but!the!most!quoted!was!Nikita!Alexeev.!!
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There!are!three!series!of!paintings!in!this!show:!Landscapes)in)Three)Languages,!Disappearing)
Landscapes) and! Tablecloths) in) the) Wind.) There! is! a! common! thread! in! all! three! of!
‘misunderstanding/understanding.’!Alexeev!has!taken!painting!to!pieces!and!is!building!it!up!in!
front!of!our!eyes.!Like!any!other!language,!he!uses!painting!as!a!trigger,!only!a!fraction!of!the!
communication!comes!in!the!actual!vocabulary,!the!words!or!brush!strokes.!
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In!the!catalogue!accompanying!the!exhibition,!the!artist!writes!the!briefest!of!stories!about!each!series.!
The!curator,!Alistair!Hicks,!has!annotated!these.!The!artist!has!responded!to!the!notes.!This!approach!
highlights! that! art! is! a! continuing! process,! and! one! that! can! originate! from! the! most! unpromising! of!
situations.! Alexeev! writes! that! he! is! ‘more! into! the! phenomenon! of! disappearance! than! into!
appearance/development.’!He!demonstrates!this!with!a!performance,!which!he!has!been!carrying!out!
in! cities! around! the! world.! Though! Andrei! Monastyrski! was! the! inspirational! leader! of! the! Collective!
Action!Group,!Alexeev!was!one!of!the!most!energetic!driving!forces!of!this!movement!that!was!at!the!
heart!of!Moscow’s!idea!of!Conceptualism.!With!the!breakFup!of!the!group,!Alexeev!has!continued!to!
make! occasional! performances! himself.! For! this! show,! he! has! made! eighty! drawings! on! grey! warm!
paper.! You! may! find! them! on! the! street,! as! well! as! in! the! gallery,! as! he! will! flyFposter! them! around!
London.!They!will!all!bear!the!legend,!‘That’s!true!in!tongues.’!This!has!a!reference!to!Wittgenstein!and!
of!course!the!Biblical!first!word,!the!Logos,!but!just!as!important!is!the!way!the!drawings!balance!text!
and!image.!Echoing!the!series,!Landscapes)in)Three)Languages,!the!artists!has!also!added!‘That’s!true’!
in!eighty!languages,!from!Papiamento!to!Russian,!form!Estonian!to!Samoan,!so!as!he!says,!‘I!hope!there!
will!be!Samoans!and!Gypsies!in!the!street!and!gallery.’!The!street!drawings!are!sentenced!to!disappear,!
but!the!artist!is!pursuing!an!ever!elusive!‘truth’!and!to!engage!with!it!he!wants!us!to!do!the!same.!He!
needs!the!viewer!to!fly!as!the!tablecloths!did!on!his!visit!to!Ischia.!‘The!tableFclothes!fell!down!from!the!
ropes!and!like!enormous!butterflies!flew!into!the!sky.’!!
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About&the&Artist&
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Nikita& Alexeev! (b.! 1953,! Moscow)! his! most! recent! exhibitions! include:! Platonic) Love,) The! State!
Museum! of! Contemporary! Art,! Thessaloniki! (2015);! Table7clothes,) Vegetables,) Putin's) Female)
Incarnations,!Galerie!Iragui,!Мoscow!(2014);!Poor)Russian)Landscape,!(together!with!Boris!Matrosov).!
Gridchinhall,! Moscow! region! (2014);! Do) It) Moscow,! Museum! of! Contemporary! Art! Garage,! Moscow!
(2014);! Actual) drawing,! The! State! Russian! Museum,! SaintFPetersburg! (2014);! Albums) Are) Rare) These)
Days,!The!State!Pushkin!Museum!of!Fine!Arts,!Moscow!(2013);!Eurasian)Songs,!KUAD!gallery,!Istanbul!
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(2013);! Dreaming) Russia,! The! Albertina,! Vienna! (2013);! Fictions) and) Dissensions,! 3 ! ! Canakkale!
Biennial,! Turkey! (2012);! Mediterranean) Question) and) Answers,! The! State! Literary! Museum,! Moscow!
(2011);! Empty) Zones,) Andrei) Monastyrski) and) Collective) Actions,) curated! by! Boris! Groys,! Russian!
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National! Pavilion! at! 54 ! Venice! Biennale,! Venice! (2011);! Much) –) Little) –) Little) –) Much,! Stella! Art!
Foundation,!Moscow!(2011).!
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For!further!information!or!highFresolution!images,!please!contact:!!
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Daria!Kirsanova!
daria@narrativeprojects.com!
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