It’s one of the things I’m telling my friends worldwide these days. Despite Putin hitting the opposition on many small occasions, Russia is actually not such a bad and behind-the-times place as many Westeners may think and it’s changing fast. Money is one of the motors for this change, but there is also a change in mentality. The middle class has come back and stabilized over the past few years (after the Aug 98 economic crash, it was almost wiped out completely). This middle class is not only consuming and fueling the new economy here in Russia, but it’s also the source of some new sub-cultures, rising from the darkness of Russian soil and starting the bloom like beautiful flowers, these days.
Art has always been a big in Russia, but art here often means depressing heavy oil paintings, looking like they were done three hundred years ago. The word contemporary art didn’t even exist in the Russian language and it just recentlz needed a new translation/definition. Of course there have always been contemporary artists, aside from very talented street artists doing graffiti and stencils, but now fresh modern art is becoming increasingly popular. Newly rich Russians were long ago looking for art as an investment. Putting money into apartments and dachas here and abroad was not enough, and art seemed to be an interesting and prestige-earning investment. For a long time only Andy Warhol or Keith Haring pieces made it into the famous Moscow Galleries and later into the Oligarch’s apartments, along with some expensive impressionists, auctioned in London or New York.
Dmitry Vrubel @ M.Guelman Gallery / Winzavod
It’s time for the Russian artists now. Moscow is a controversial place to live and it gives lots of inspiration for all kinds of art. There are art cafes like the O.G.I. chain, which support students and young artists who experiment with photographs, music and paintings or there are new gallery spaces on Ul. Timura Frunze, Bolshaya Nikitsky and (even newer) at Vinzavod, a former Bavarian beer, and later a wine factory, behind Kurskaya Station. Vinzavod is said to become the new So-Ho of Moscow. I always was under the impression the Timura Frunze area would get that status, but I won’t argue, and it’ s probably stupid to compare Moscow with London or New York anyway. Moscow is Moscow and it will become an equally important place for culture as the two metropolitan cities mentioned before.
The Kurskaya train station area has been a wild and sort of dangerous place in the past and even though some famous and very nice clubs like Ikra or Gazgolder opened nearby, one still needed to be careful when leaving at the end of the night. There are endless stories of friends who were beaten up and robbed brutally by gangs of suburban skinheads, but also “black peopleâ€? as they call the people from Caucasus here. Our afternoon walk from Kurskaya Metro to Vinzavod is also a bit scary. Endless numbers of homeless drunks and drugged up people cross our way and even though it’s a bright summer day, it seems a bit scary to walk here. It’s not really a typical touristic area where you can walk with your camera on your neck and be safe. I’d still consider it a possibly dangerous area of Moscow.
Nevertheless, once you make your way to this former beer factory (now called Vinzavod) you’ll be surprised of what you can find in Moscow nowadays. Still, before you enter the area, you’ll have to pass a few angry barking dogs and some mean looking guards in scary Afghan war military outfits. Don’t let them turn you away. Vinzavod is an art center, a must see, a fashionable and clean island within this poor area behind Kurskaya Station. It is a place where you can wander from gallery to gallery and see what’s hot in the Russian art scene today.
Cara & Co Concept Store
There is also a concept store, offering a huge variety of designer clothes you’d only find in Paris, London or New York. Cara & Co offers a variety of designer clothes to cater the creative upscale Moscovite clientele. The store carries designers such as: Akira Isogawa, Bitte Kai Rand, Del Forte, Jayson Brunson, John Smedley, Johnstons, Natan Edouard Vermeulen, Nicholas K, Nom*D, Sabatini, Tim van Steenbergen, United Bamboo, A.F.Vandevorst, Youth World, Yuchi, World, Zambesi and many others. Besides apparel you’ll find shoes, hats, make-up, many accessories, books, music and other interesting things. Roza, the Australian owner and founder, is still negotiating with the authorities for permission to open a café inside Cara & Co and it is a nice place to rest and enjoy a coffee during the art and shopping trip around Winzavod. Cara & Co opened just 8 weeks ago and they are waiting for your visit!
I asked Roza if she didn’t think Vinzavod was hard to find and not easy accessible. She referred to New York’s So-Ho and said “Is it easy to find the Prada store in So-Ho?�. Like finding a treasure, I suppose you have to work at it. Well, try not to get scared of by the barking dogs or angry guards, and find out yourself. Vinzavod or Winzavod or Winzavad or Winzawad or however you write it, this place is definitely worth a visit. Go check the art at the Guelman Gallery. They show art of Dmitry Vrubel & Victoria Timofeeva these days and it was my favorite art gallery at Vinzavod. Ksenya, who works at Guelman was giving us many leads about the Russian art scene and she seemed to be an expert in Russian contemporary art. She any many others at Vinzavod were eger to explain their art and give us much more information about whats going on in the Russian art scene.
You’ll find more info about Russian art at www.GIF.ru (unfortunately only in Russian). Note the 28th of June. That is another grand day for Vinzavod’s Gallerys, when they will show new art and have invited us to future openings. Well, that’s it for today, but I promise to write more about Russian art. Next time you’ll see more about the artist Dmitry Vrubel and we’ll visit a few other galleries for you in the next days to come.
Address:
Art-center “Winzavod”
4-th Syromyatnicheskiy pereulok, 1. str. 6
+7 (495) 917-3436
+7 (495) 917-4646
www.winzavod.com
Metro: Kurskaya
