17 — exhibition in PennLab gallery, Moscow, September 12 — October 11

The final exhibition “17” of Rodchenko Art School graduates was opened at September, 12 in Moscow. The show includes the visual studies of 17 authors. For three years, artists from 9 cities around the world studied art in the workshops of Margo Ovcharenko, Igor Mukhin and Alexander Anufriev, Vladislav Efimov and Alexei Korsi.

This exhibition is the young artists' own horizontal initiative, their new founded team worked on its creation for more than 4 months, initially having no place, no curator, no concept. However, thanks to hard work and the quality of their pieces of art, they were able to attract interested professionals and create a well-thought-out, filled exposition, as well as hold a bright and welcoming vernissage.

The geography of the artists allows visitors to make an emotional journey from Moscow to Yerevan, Izhevsk, Cologne, Lodeynoye Pole, London, Lyubertsy, St. Petersburg and Sergiev Posad. There are actual experiments of authors working with various mediums: photography, book, video art, sculpture, installation, objects on the walls, the floor and even the ceiling. The variety of projects combines several common themes: the existence of an individual in the environment, out-of-context self-determination and interaction in a complex society. The leitmotif is an expression of a personal, deeply intimate response to biographical events and external changes. Curator: Nina Lavrishcheva, senior researcher at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.

Olga Mikhalchuk’s installation is a “fog” over a river: the images from her photo series are printed on transparent tracing paper, located at different heights, the distance between them allows you to pass through. This is necessary to get to the “unexplored” — the artist’s book “HARD”, the exhibition of which gives the attentive viewer an opportunity to immerse himself in the contemplation of the story of growing up for a long time.